Assam Assembly election in April-May Nadda's campaign to begin at Silchar, like Modi's 2019 campaign

Guwahati, Jan 10
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National president JP Nadda will reach Assam on Monday on a two-day visit to kick start the ruling party’s campaign for the Assembly polls, scheduled in April-May.
Nadda will arrive at Silchar in the Barak Valley to take part in a large rally called ‘Vijay Sankalpa Samabesh’ at the police parade ground. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP State president Ranjeet Kumar Dass, senior Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and several other senior leaders will attend the rally.
“Along with Nadda, National general secretary BL Santosh and National vice president and party in-charge for Assam, Baijayant Jay Panda, who is already in Assam, will also take part in the rally in Silchar,” said Ranjeet Kumar Dass.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also launched his Lok Sabha poll campaign from Assam in 2019, with a rally in Silchar. The Barak Valley, which comprises three districts, has been a traditional stronghold of the BJP for over three decades.
In 2016 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 8 of the 15 seats in Barak Valley while All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) had won 5 and Congress 2. BJP is hoping to better its tally this time. Last month, Lakhipur Congress MLA Rajdeep Goala resigned from the Assembly and joined the saffron party.
“From Silchar, Nadda will visit Guwahati on Monday afternoon and take part in a meeting with party office bearers as well as hold a couple of other organizational meetings. He will spend the night in Guwahati and will leave for Delhi on Tuesday after visiting Kamakhya Temple in the morning,” Dass stated.
The BJP president won’t be holding any official talks with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), the two regional parties with which it is expected to enter into a pre-poll alliance.
AGP is already part of the BJP-led ruling coalition in Assam while the UPPL, which is heading the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) after last month’s polls, is expected to replace Bodoland Peoples’ Party (BPF) as BJP’s new partner.
BJP performed well in the BTC polls winning nine of the total 40 seats. The party is part of the ruling coalition in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), which covers four districts in lower Assam. The saffron party also won the Tiwa Autonomous Council (TAC) polls last month, winning 35 of the total 36 seats.
“BL Santosh, who will arrive before Nadda, will hold meetings with election sub-committees of the party dealing with social media, manifesto preparation, poll campaign etc. on Monday,” said Dass.
BJP, which has 60 seats in the 126-member Assembly, is aiming to win over 100 seats this time, along with its pre-poll partners.
Opposition Congress is also in poll-mode with party in-charge for Assam, Jitendra Singh, reaching Guwahati on January 8 as part of a five-day visit. Though the party had announced formation of a grand alliance with AIUDF, it hasn’t materialized till date.
Hindustan Times