Polls to urban local bodies: A section of BJP leaders wants the party to go solo

GUWAHATI, Oct 30: With elections to urban local bodies (ULBs) of Assam scheduled to take place early next year, a large segment of State BJP leaders and cadres want the ruling party to go solo rather than having seat-sharing arrangement with the other NDA constituents.

“A huge majority of our cadres across the State as well as a substantial segment of our supporters want the party to contest the ULB elections on its own. They are against any alliance or tie-up with other parties, including our partners in the NDA, in the municipal polls,” a senior State BJP office-bearer told The Assam Tribune.

He added, “Many of us in the State unit believe that the party leadership should respect the wishes and sentiments of our cadres and hardcore supporters. After all, the style of functioning of a cadre-based party like the BJP is very different from that of other organisations.”

It is noteworthy that the NDA constituents – BJP, AGP and BPF – had contested the 2016 Assam Assembly polls jointly and all three parties are sharing power in the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government.

However, the NDA partners had contested last year’s panchayat polls on their own, before again reaching a seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.

Many State BJP leaders also believe that local polls offer the best chance to activate the cadres and strengthen the organisational base of the party at the grass-roots level.