Assam polls: Akhil Gogoi predicts Congress win with at least 70 seats

Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi voiced confidence in the Congress alliance winning over 70 seats in Assam. This contrasts sharply with exit polls, which project a comfortable victory for the incumbent BJP-led NDA with up to 101 seats.

Congress Alliance Confident of Victory, Says Akhil Gogoi

Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi on Sunday expressed confidence that Congress and its allies will form the government in Assam with "at least 70 seats" and said the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will be voted out of power.

"We will win the polls. We are fully prepared. We will win at least 70 seats," Gogoi told ANI. Congress stitched a six-party alliance, which included the Raijor Dal, to take on the ruling BJP-led NDA in Assam. The state has 126 assembly seats. Exit polls have projected that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will retain Assam.

Leaders Dismiss Exit Polls, Allege Foul Play

Congress candidate from Dispur Assembly constituency, Meera Borathakur Goswami, said she does not trust exit polls and urged party workers to closely monitor the counting process. "We have never seen exit polls turn out to be correct. All our candidates and counting agents must keep an eye on their respective EVMs. We need to focus on the counting," she said.

"I believe that this time the people have given a mandate against the BJP, and for sure Gaurav Gogoi will become the Chief Minister, and Dispur's mandate will also come in favour of Congress," she added.

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi also launched a sharp attack on the BJP accusing it of electoral malpractices. He also raised questions on role of Election Commission.

"Here in Assam, we are witnessing this across various polling booths: BJP workers are present not only inside the strong rooms but were also present earlier while the voting was still underway. The crucial question is: what exactly is the Election Commission doing? This poses a grave threat to democracy," he said.

"We, the opposition parties, are repeatedly raising this issue. And it is clear that the BJP cannot win the elections on the basis of its work. They want to save themselves through theft," he added.

Exit Polls Project NDA's Return to Power

In Assam, exit polls predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is poised to retain power for a third successive term. Axis My India projected that the BJP-led NDA would secure 88 to 100 of 126 seats and the Congress-led alliance 24 to 36 seats. JVC predicted 88-101 seats for the NDA and 23-33 seats for the Congress-led alliance. It gave 0-2 seats to AIUDF and three to others. Matrize projected 85-95 seats for the BJP-led alliance, 25-32 for the Congress-led alliance, and 6-12 seats for others.

Votes will be counted on May 4. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)