GUWAHATI, May 24 - Attributing her success in the electoral battle to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the organisational strength of the BJP and the love, affection and support of the masses, the Lok Sabha �member-elect� from the Guwahati seat Queen Oja today said she will work hard over the next five years and try to fulfil the wishes and aspirations of the voters of the constituency.
Speaking to The Assam Tribune today, Oja said she has been able to get support from all segments of the electorate of Guwahati constituency and thanked the voters for giving her an opportunity to represent them in Parliament.
�There are many issues in Guwahati constituency which need attention. Over the next five years, I will focus on all those issues and work towards finding solutions to problems which affect the constituency,� said the newly elected BJP nominee who will officially become an MP after the next Lok Sabha is constituted.
Asked what would be her priority areas, Oja said, �I have only just got elected. I will sit down will all stakeholders, including the local MLAs, officials, agencies and the public and discuss all issues and study the various matters. And accordingly, I will prioritise the areas which need attention and where actions are required. We need a proper plan to carry forward the work that we must do.�
Oja said the image of Prime Minister Modi and the organisational strength of the BJP were big assets for her during the polls campaign.
�Modi's stature as a strong and global statesman is the biggest strength for our party. In addition, the clean image of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the strategy and campaigning style of NEDA convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, and the organisational abilities of our State party chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass are big factors. Our party cadres worked very hard. I have got elected only because of the help and cooperation from all of them,� said Oja. She also thanked the media for covering her campaign.
The ruling BJP made history by becoming the first party ever to win from the Guwahati constituency for a third consecutive term.
Before this, no single party has ever managed to win from the constituency for more than two consecutive terms.
As per data from the Election Commission, Oja won the seat by securing 10,08,936 votes as against 6,63,330 votes secured by her nearest rival and Congress nominee Bobbeeta Sharma. The margin between the winner and the runner-up candidates was 3,45,606 votes.
Oja got 57.20 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency as against 37.61 per cent by Sharma.
Barring Oja and Sharma, all the other 15 contenders from the Guwahati seat had to forfeit their deposits.
Independent candidate Upamanyu Hazarika secured 21,193 votes (1.20 per cent of the total votes polled) and came in third place.
Interestingly, NOTA polled the fourth highest number of votes in Guwahati. There were a total of 10,466 NOTA votes in the seat (or 0.59 per cent).
Among the ten legislative assembly constituency (LAC) segments under Guwahati Lok Sabha seat, Oja polled more votes in six segments (Dudhnoi, Palasbari, Jalukbari, Dispur, Guwahati East and Guwahati West), while Sharma led in four segments (Boko, Chaygaon, Hajo and Barkhetri).
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Bijoya Chakravarty of BJP had defeated her nearest rival Manash Borah of Congress by a margin of over 3.15 lakh votes in Guwahati.
As such, the margin of victory of the BJP winner this time is higher than what her predecessor had clocked in 2014.
