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Upper Assam belt a �zone of concern� for Cong

By PRANJAL BHUYAN

GUWAHATI, Sept 18 - With the next Assembly elections only seven-eight months away, principal opposition Congress is putting special focus on the upper Assam belt which is proving to be a �zone of concern� for the grand old party.

�With the proposed �grand alliance� of opposition parties � which will have the AIUDF as one of the constituents � sure to materialise in a formal manner soon, we are optimistic about our prospects in the Barak Valley, as well as lower Assam and central Assam. However, the upper Assam belt remains a zone of concern for our party,� a senior State Congress office-bearer told this newspaper on Friday.

He added, �There are a total of 42 Assembly constituencies in what we consider as the upper Assam belt, stretching from Bokakhat to Sadiya on the south bank and from Dhekiajuli to Jonai on the north bank. In the past the upper Assam seats have always played a major role in facilitating government formation by our party.�

In the 2001 Assembly polls the Congress had won 27 out of those 42 seats, while in 2006 it managed to secure 21 seats, and in 2011 it grabbed as many as 36 of those constituencies. �But in 2016 our tally fell to only seven out of the 42 seats of upper Assam,� said the leader.

Sources said an internal survey carried out by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) found that the party�s position is not very strong in some districts of upper Assam.

�The survey report states that our party is in a comfortable position in Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar, and we are sure of making major gains in these three districts during the 2021 Assembly elections. However, in some other districts, like Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sonitpur and Biswanath, our organisational position is in a bad shape. Therefore, the focus over the next few months will be on regaining our base in those places,� said another senior Congress leader.

The AICC survey has also recommended selection of �fresh faces� as candidates in some seats of upper Assam, as well as in the rest of the State, he added.

�Besides the Modi factor and anti-incumbency, mistake in candidate selection was also a reason which cost us dearly in the 2016 polls. Many of our �old faces� who lost the last Assembly elections have failed to regain acceptability of both the common voters as well as our own party workers during the last four and a half years. Therefore, it is imperative to select new faces in some of the seats and the survey�s findings only reflect that fact,� said the Congress leader.

The grand old party is also in talks with some non-political outfits and students� organisations representing certain indigenous ethnic groups to secure their support in the 2021 Assembly elections.

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