Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated on Sunday that the Congress party only won one state and made a big deal out of India, whereas his party won in several states and never overreacted. He previously stated that the grand old party's victory in the Karnataka assembly elections will have no bearing on the BJP's return to power at the Centre for the third time in 2024.
He claimed that the Congress' victory in Karnataka is nothing new because the party was in power in the southern state prior to the 2014 general election when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP came to power.
Sarma, who campaigned extensively in Karnataka prior to the election, stated that while the BJP will not perform well in the state, its performance will not prevent the party from returning to power at the Centre for the third time.
"The opposition is using this victory as a straw in the ocean, but it will have no future impact," he said on the sidelines of a function in Bihaguri, Assam's Sonitpur district.
In response to the Karnataka election results, Assam Pradesh Congress President Bhupen Borah stated, "The people of Assam will also show the BJP the door in the next elections." In a dig at the BJP, he said, "Even after getting Gandhi removed from the Lok Sabha, the prime minister could not prevent the Congress from winning the Karnataka elections," PTI reported.
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from serving in the Lok Sabha in March 2023 after a court found him guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison for criminal defamation for comments he made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname.
Borah told reporters that the BJP had lost all of the seats in which Sarma had campaigned. On the other hand, the Congress Party has won in all 22 constituencies where party leader Rahul Gandhi spoke during his 'Bharat Jodo' campaign.