Lok Sabha polls 2024: BJP to contest 11 seats in Assam, AGP 2, UPPL 1

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Thursday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 11 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) will contest two seats, and the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) will contest one seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. There are a total of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam.

The AGP will contest from Barpeta and Dhubri, while UPPL will field its candidate in Kokrajhar, news agency PTI reported. "The allies will support each other's candidates in all the 14 constituencies," Sarma said.

In a press conference on Thursday, Sarma expressed confidence that the BJP will win 11 seats in the state. "The BJP and its alliance will win 11 out of 14 seats [in Assam], and we will contest on the other three seats tooth and nail, but I am optimistic about 11 seats as of now," Sarma said.

Sarma also stated that there will be new faces in the upcoming election. "This is because there are many existing MPs from the BJP's side who expressed their desire not to contest and devote their time and energy for the party," the Assam chief minister said.

He further said that two working presidents of the Congress party, one Rana Goswami, who was also secretary of the All India Congress Committee at some point in time and worked closely with the UP team under Priyanka Gandhi, have resigned and joined the BJP.

"Another working president, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, has also extended his full support outside and inside the assembly to the BJP-led present government. So these two are very important for us, and I am sure that there will be many more joining in the days to come," Sarma said.

Sarma was hopeful that “there will be many more joinings in the days to come."

The Assam CM also slammed the Congress party and said that the grand old party's "downhill journey began" when "people saw Rahul Gandhi in the street of Assam, and they clearly realised that he was boycotting the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram temple.".

"I am sure that barring four to five MLAs, I do not think in the days to come—maybe six months, one year, two years—other people will remain in the Congress party," Sarma said.