‘Elections might be very competitive’: Bhaichung Bhutia sees tight contest in Assam polls

Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia has said the upcoming Assam Assembly elections are shaping up to be closely fought, pointing to the work carried out by the current and previous state governments.

“As per whatever I know, the elections might be very competitive,” Bhutia told reporters. He added that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma “did a lot of work in the state”, and noted that “even before that, former CM Sarbananda Sonowal also did a lot”.

The remarks come as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to finalise its candidates. The party released its second list on Saturday, naming Jiban Gogoi from Sissiborgaon and Sushri Krishna Saha from Dalgaon. With this, the BJP has announced candidates for 90 constituencies so far, following its first list of 88 candidates released on 19 March.

The first list included prominent leaders who recently switched from the Congress. Pradyut Bordoloi has been fielded from Dispur after ending his long association with the Congress and joining the BJP in the presence of the chief minister. Former Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah, who changed sides weeks earlier, will contest from Bihpuria, a seat he lost in the last two Assembly elections.

Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to contest again from his traditional Jalukbari constituency. Earlier, he had indicated that the party would contest 89 seats, stating that candidates for 88 constituencies had been announced and that the remaining name would follow shortly.

The BJP is contesting the elections in alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). On the other side, the Congress is contesting 100 of the 126 seats and has tied up with the Assam Jatiya Parishad, Raijor Dal, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the All Party Hill Leaders Conference. Raijor Dal is set to contest 11 seats.

Polling across all constituencies will be held on 9 April, with counting scheduled for 4 May. The BJP-led government is aiming for a third consecutive term, while the Congress and its allies are seeking to unseat the ruling coalition.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the NDA — comprising the BJP, AGP and United People’s Party Liberal — secured 75 seats, including 60 won by the BJP alone. The opposition alliance led by the Congress performed poorly, managing just 16 seats. Voter turnout stood at 86.2 per cent, with over 2.2 crore registered voters.