GUWAHATI, Dec 20 - No single opposition party on its own will be able to pose a Statewide challenge to the BJP-led NDA in the 2021 Assam Assembly elections, Finance Minister and NEDA convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma said today.
�In the Barak Valley, we will have some contest with the Congress and the AIUDF, while in upper Assam we will face some contest from the Congress at some seats and from Independents in others. In Bodoland, we will be in contest with the BPF. As such we will have contest with different parties at different places. But no single party will be able to pose any challenge for us across the State,� he said.
Asked if the BJP considers the results of the recent polls to the Bodoland Territorial Council and the Tiwa Autonomous Council as victory in semi-finals, he said, �I will not term those as semi-finals. We have been winning various elections and this trend will continue.�
Sarma expressed confidence that the BJP will be able to retain power in Dispur after the 2021 Assembly polls.
To a question regarding the party�s �Mission 100� or the target of securing at least hundred seats in the elections, he said, �One hundred is the target. Whether we will be able to achieve that or not will only become clear the day after ballots are cast. It could turn out to be 101 or 99. But we will form the government and our tally will be around 100.�
Sarma refrained from giving a direct reply when asked about the likelihood of senior Congress MLA and former minister Ajanta Neog joining the BJP.
Sarma also criticized the leaders of the newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Raijor Dal but without taking any names.
He also added in a lighter note that all the newly formed parties should unite.
