GUWAHATI, May 13 (IANS): The ruling Congress party has secured an absolute majority in Assam, winning 78 seats in the 126-member legislature. The Opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were wiped out with only AGP just managing to touch the double-digit mark.
According to the latest results, the Congress had won 78 seats, AGP 10, BJP 5, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) 18, the Bodoland People's Party (BPF) 12 seats and others three.
Meanwhile, celebrations have begun in the Congress party camp with trends indicating a massive win.
"I am the happiest person today as the people of Assam voted us to power for the third time based on our performance, good governance, and overall economic development measures that we did in the last 10 years," Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS.
"Bringing peace to Assam is also one of the main reasons for the confidence reposed on us by the voters of Assam," he said
But Assam's beleaguered main Opposition AGP blamed manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVM) by the Congress party for the regional party's rout in the assembly elections, while the BJP attributed the Congress victory to the votes of the Bangaladeshi Muslims living illegally in the state.
"We knew the Congress would do something and they did so by manipulating the EVMs. Otherwise such a result would not have come," former two time chief minister and senior AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told journalists.
Mahanta lost one of the two seats he contested - he lost the Samaguri seat to Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain but won the Barhampur seat defeating the Congress candidate.
"EVM's were manipulated by the government machinery at the instance of the Congress," former AGP president Brindaban Goswami said.
Goswami who won the Tezpur seat for the last four terms lost this time to the Congress.
"We don't know yet the final tally, but Congress must have done well based on votes of Bangladeshi Muslims," BJP MP Bijoya Chakraborty said.
Among the prominent losers include AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary and BJP state president Ranjit Dutta - both losing to the Congress.
Patowary lost the Dharmapur seat to Nilamani Sen Deka by more than 5,000 votes, while Ranjit Dutta lost to first timer Pallab Lochan Das of the Congress by more than 8,000 votes.
