The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to finalize seat sharing arrangements within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by February 15.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has stated that a tentative framework is already in place, with only "10 to 12 seats" still being discussed.
"A broad arrangement for sharing seats has been established. For example, BJP in Jalukbari, AGP in Bokakhat, and so forth. On Sunday night, Sarma informed the media on the fringes of the last day of the Chutia community festival at Birpal Khetra in Titabar, "There are only ten or twelve seats left to be discussed."
The Chief Minister stated that the BJP would let voters evaluate candidates based on their performance, emphasizing that the party does not target constituencies but instead concentrates on candidate merit and the public mandate.
"Tickets will be distributed, and voters will cast their ballots after evaluating the candidates' qualifications. We are confident that the electorate will elect us to form the government," he declared.
Sarma went on to say that current MLAs would only be evaluated based on their performance. "An MLA will receive the ticket if they have performed well. They won't if not. Because of this, there will be fewer candidates in constituencies where MLAs have done well, he stated.
Additionally, the Chief Minister stated that the BJP would not field candidates in constituencies where Muslims make up more than 80% of the population.
He added that the party's compete list does not include about 22 such seats. The constituency of Titabar is predominantly Hindu. In constituencies with 80% Muslim voters, the BJP would not run candidates.
We have excluded 22 seats because of this. We'll go for between 103 and 104 seats," he declared. Titabar, which presently lacks a BJP MLA, will have a new candidate, Sarma stated.
There will be a new candidate because Titabar does not currently have an MLA. It is typical to have six or seven ticket candidates in constituencies where there are no serving MLAs, he continued.
Sarma reacted harshly to comments made during a Congress joining program in Jorhat, when newly elected Congress politician Rejaul Karim Sarkar allegedly said that Tinsukia and Sivasagar would become Dhubri.
Sarma denounced the statement as "serious and deplorable." "Sivasagar and Tinsukia would be transformed into Dhubri, according to a very dangerous and abhorrent assertion.
He questioned, "But what does that even mean?" According to the Chief Minister, indigenous people in Dhubri have been marginalized by population shifts.
Koch Rajbongshi and other indigenous groups used to live in Dhubri. About 80 to 85 percent of the population is now of Bangladeshi descent as a result of the inflow of Bangladeshi people, and Hindus are now a very small minority, he asserted.
Sarma further claimed that similar population shifts were being planned for Upper Assamese areas. He stated that Dibrugarh and Charaideo would also be impacted by "turning Sivasagar and Tinsukia into Dhubri means bringing Bangladeshi nationals there, just like what happened in Dhubri, Barpeta, Goalpara, and Bongaigaon."
Gaurav Gogoi, a Congress MP, was chastised by him for not challenging the statement. "I am the MP of Sivasagar, let Sivasagar remain Sivasagar," Gaurav Gogoi ought to have declared as soon as he stepped up.
He didn't succeed in doing so," Sarma remarked. In response to Gogoi's comment, "Who is Himanta Biswa Sarma?" the Chief Minister stated that the query was improper in and of itself.
"My parents are Mrinalini Devi and Kailash Nath Sarma. I am from a middle class family and am an ordinary Assamese. "What more identity is needed?" he asked. Sarma wondered why the Assamese identity was being questioned.
Will Assamese people in Assam itself now be asked, "Who are you?" He questioned, "Does this imply that Badruddin Ajmal and an Assamese are the same?" Sarma remarked, "Tarun Gogoi used to ask, 'Who is Badruddin Ajmal?'" referring to the former chief minister.
His son ought to be inquiring, "Who is Rakibul Hussain?" or "Who is Rezaul Karim?" today. Rather, they are inquiring, "Who is Himanta Biswa Sarma?"
