Assam: BJP-AGP combine sweeps GMC polls, Congress draws blank
Guwahati, Apr 24: The BJP-AGP alliance swept the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) polls on Sunday, bagging 58 out of the total 60 wards, while the main opposition party Congress drew a blank.
The other two wards were won one each by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), the Assam State Election Commission said in a release.
The BJP won in 52 wards, including three uncontested candidates, while its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) clinched six wards.
Altogether, 52.80 per cent voter turnout was registered with EVMs used for voting in all polling stations for the first time in GMC elections.
As many as 197 candidates were in fray.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lauded BJP workers for the resounding victory and thanked people of the state for the massive mandate.
Thank you Guwahati! The people of this lovely city have given a resounding mandate to @BJP4Assam to build on the agenda of development. They have also blessed the hardwork of the state government under CM @himantabiswa. My gratitude to every BJP Karyakarta for the hardwork, Modi tweeted.
Sharing the PM's tweet on his official handle on the micro-blogging site, Sarma wrote: We're immensely grateful to you Adarniya Pradhan Mantri ji for your good wishes and blessings. This has been a result of your astounding vision and robust development initiatives in the North East.
Guwahati is profusely in gratitude, he added.
Former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal also hailed the BJP and its ally for the triumph in the GMC polls.
Thank you Guwahati! The people of this lovely city have given a resounding mandate to @BJP4Assam to build on the agenda of development. They have also blessed the hardwork of the state government under CM @himantabiswa. My gratitude to every BJP Karyakarta for the hardwork.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 24, 2022
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
