Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that he can bring all candidates of the Congress to BJP, barring one (presumably Gaurav Gogoi. He further said there is no point in voting for the Congress as all the winners will join the BJP after the elections. "The foremost question is if the Congress leaders will remain in the party. Nobody wants to be in Congress; everyone wants to join the BJP."
He said: "Barring one candidate, I can bring everyone to the BJP. The credit for this goes to Modi."
He further said: "There is no Opposition. They [Opposition candidates] are our people. The moment we call them, they will join us." He further said that there is no differentiation based on minority or majority in Assam as the BJP runs on the policy of 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas'. "This is the first time minorities are getting so many jobs," he said.
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He also said that the BJP will win the Muslim-dominated constituency of Karimganj by a margin of over 1 lakh.
The Congress has released the names of 12 candidates so far. The party is yet to announce the candidates for the remaining Lakhimpur. AJP leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi has been announced as the Opposition's joint candidate for Dibrugarh.
In a major development last week, the Aam Aadmi Party last week withdrew its candidate from the Guwahati seat and asked Congress to drop its nominations from the Sonitpur and Dibrugarh constituencies "in the interest of Opposition unity".
The AAP said if the Congress failed to drop its candidates from the two seats, "it will be clear that the Congress party has done a setting with BJP and is fighting only to make sure BJP wins. People of Assam will not accept this".
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