Assam Assembly Elections 2016

They make the most unlikely allies but the BJP and theAIUDF of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal are exploring the possibility of forming a coalition government if Assam gets a hung assembly.

"That may be like going back on everything the two parties have said during the election campaign, but that is politics," said a senior leader of the All India United Democratic Front.

The leader said AIUDF chief Ajmal had been approached by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Assam Assembly Elections :"BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma has had a few rounds of discussions with Ajmal and it looks like Ajmal has decided to go with the BJP if the Congress doesn't win enough seats to merit a coalition," the source said.

Ajmal has told the media: "All depends on how many seats goes to who. That will influence our decision whom to support."

But he dodged questions on whether he will insist on not supporting the BJP come what may.

Before the two-phase assembly elections began in Assam, Ajmal had said there was no question of supporting the BJP and that the Congress could be backed if they dropped Tarun Gogoi as chief minister.

"Gogoi is a failure," said Ajmal, reviving the personal feud that erupted in 2006 when Gogoi said "Ajmal kaun hai?" (Who is Ajmal?)

The BJP leadership is confident that the alliance it leads will emerge as the single largest block in the 126-member assembly even if it doesn't get a clear majority.

"Our first choice will be to win over the independents, some of whom may win. But if we still need some support, the only party we can go to is the AIUDF," said a top BJP leader.

Not everyone feels this can happen.

Elections in Assam :"The BJP is out to detect and deport illegal migrants from Bangladesh, at least that is their main poll plank, while the AIUDF is seen as a party of those very illegal migrants," said Samir Purkayastha, a political analyst who has written extensively on Assam.

Purkayastha says the AIUDF is not keen on an alliance with the Congress because they see a competition between them for the minority support base.

Ajmal is also known for his close relations with Himanta Biswa Sarma from the latter's days in the Gogoi cabinet.

Sarma could well be trying to use his friendship with Ajmal and Bodo leader Hangrama Mohilary to outgun BJP's declared chief minister candidate Sarbananda Sonowal.

Sonowal is hugely popular amongst ethnic Assamese and tribals for his spirited legal challenge that led to the scrapping of the IMDT act of 1983 that was seen as protective of illegal migrants.

Political analyst Amarjyoti Bora says that if the BJP-led alliance falls short of the majority, Sarma will use his clout with alliance partners AGP and Bodoland Peoples Front for the numero uno position, more so if the BJP has to lean on the AIUDF to take power.

"Ajmal may not agree to go with the BJP if it sticks with Sonowal as chief minister. So Sarma may be the compromise candidate," said Purkayastha.

Sarma and Ajmal reportedly started their confabulations immediately after the Assam polls ended on April 11.

"If they don't win a majority, the BJP is looking at a Kashmir-type situation. The only difference is that in Assam Elections the BJP will be the senior partner and the AIUDF the junior partner," said analyst Bora.

AIUDF founder Hafiz Rashid Chowdhury, now with the Samata Party, says if Ajmal goes with the BJP, he will "betray the basic spirit of minority politics in Assam".

Many in AIUDF don't agree.

"If we have an alliance with a party which is in power in the Centre, Assam will get a lot of development funds," says AIUDF activist Abu Sufian.

That could well be Ajmal's selling point if he seeks to ally with the BJP.

For the BJP, shaking hands with AIUDF will be a drop from the high cloud of anti-migrant rhetoric to the more mundane talk of governance.

The Congress is also keen on an alliance with the AIUDF but it will be in business only if it gets close to 50 seats and the AIUDF manages a 15-plus score.

Assam Assembly Elections 2016

Infiltration has been a major poll plank in all Assam polls for the past four decades and the Assembly election 2016 this year is no exception.

While BJP is pledging to resolve the issue, ruling Congress claims it has already taken initiative in this regard by updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Leading BJP's campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modisaid his government would not allow infiltration and resolve it as a top priority.

Assam Elections 2016: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, however, asserted there was no Bangladeshi in the state and "my government took the initiative to get the NRC updated and the process is on".

"NRC updating will bring to end issues of infiltration from Bangladesh. There are people who believe infiltration is still going on despite erection of a barbed wire fencing and intensified BSF patrolling along the border," Gogoi said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, during his election campaign in the state, appealed to the people to give the government some time to completely seal the Indo-Bangla border so that no infiltrators could enter.

Along with illegal infiltration, Rajnath said, there has been huge movement of fake currency from the neighbouring country affecting the economy.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said relations with Bangladesh were never as good as they were now and the BJP would take this opportunity to resolve the issue as it was a matter of national security.

BJP's alliance partner AGP has demanded that all clauses of the Assam Accord be implemented and infiltration issue be resolved.

AGP had spearheaded a six-year-long agitation for detection and deportation of Bangladeshi migrants which led to the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985.

However, Congress and opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), with a traditional support of the minorities, asserted that no harassment of genuine Indians will be tolerated in the name of identifying foreigners.

"Besides updation of the NRC, the Congress has taken steps to develop villages along Indo-Bangla border, installing flood-lights and border fencing during the UPA rule," Gogoi said, adding BJP and AGP raise the infiltration issue only beforeAssam Assembly Elections 2016.

The problem of infiltration has persisted for decades with a long-drawn agitation in which many lives were lost but there has been no solution as the Congress is not interested in resolving it, AGP President Atul Bora alleged.

Gogoi countered asking why AGP which was in power for two terms in the state and its alliance partner BJP at the Centre for more than six years did not resolve the issue.

"Congress is committed to people of all communities living in Assam and will never compromise with their interests at any cost. We are the true believers and practitioners of regionalism in the state," he added.

NRC was expected to identify those who illegally entered Assam after 1971.

Assembly Elections 2016 India

The turnout in 18 Assembly seats in West Bengal and 65 seats in Assam for theAssembly Elections 2016 was a historic high during the first phase.

There was so much rush that the Election Commission had to extend voting by an hour on Monday, senior sources in the Election commission said. It was not clear where.

The voter turnout was 81 per cent in West Bengal and 80 per cent in Assam. The elections ended peacefully with no reports of major violence or injury, said Sandeep Saxena, deputy election commissioner. A total of 16 complaints related to rigging, denial of vote and late start of polling were received.

Polling in the two states was held amid tight security, including large-scale presence of central paramilitary forces and aerial surveillance by helicopter-borne personnel in West Bengal.

The remaining 61 seats in middle and lower Assam Elections 2016 will vote in the second and final phase of polling on April 11. Polling will be held in another 31 seats in West Bengal on April 11.

Nearly all the voting constituencies in West Bengal were in Naxalite-affected regions. In 13 seats of the tribal Jangalmahal area, polling concluded at 4 pm due to security considerations. In the remaining five seats of Purulia, Manbazar, Kashipur, Para and Raghunathpur polling went on till 6 pm.

In Assam, an estimated 70 per cent of little over 9.5 million voters cast their ballots. There were no reports of violence from any of the 65 of the 126 constituencies where polling was held in the first phase. The fate of several prominent Congress candidates, including Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi from Titabor and Speaker of the outgoing Assembly Pranab Gogoi from Sibsagar has been sealed in electronic voting machines. Among others whose constituencies went to poll on Monday included BJP's chief ministerial candidate Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal from Majuli and the party's Lok Sabha member from Jorhat Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, who is contesting against Gogoi in Titabor.

West Bengal Elections 2016 ruling Trinamool Congress expressed satisfaction over the huge turnout and said it was indicative of the 'silent revolution' that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had ushered in the state through development.

"There were some issues with EVMs in some booths which were immediately addressed for smooth functioning," Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dibyendu Sarkar said.

Most analysts attributed the high turnout to the dying Left-wing insurgency in West Bengal.