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Assam
The success of the AGP-NDA alliance will depend on how successfully the AGP allays the fears of the minorities over the BJP's communal agenda. The AGP's support base has been eroded by its non-performance and rampant corruption in the government. The minorities may well incline towards the Congress in the absence of other choices. But with the likelihood of a minority front being formed, the electoral prospects for the Congress are not so bright either.
Assam, one of the seven states in northeast India with diverse population and nagging insurgency activities, will hold its 11th assembly elections on May 10. It will elect 126 members to the assembly. Altogether 40 political parties, including national ones, are taking part and 914 candidates have filed their nomination papers. The main contenders, are the Congress and the Asom Gana ParishadBharatiya Janata Party alliance.
The election scenario in Assam took a significant turn with the decision of the AGP and BJP leadership to forge an alliance in spite of the strong opposition from the state BJP units. The AGP, the leading regional party, and the BJP, the national party which advocates Hindutva, have been occupying two different poles for all these years. Both parties, particularly the AGP, were doubtful that they could win on their own and gravitated towards this arrangement of convenience The understanding between the two has naturally brought about a new equation in the electoral politics of Assam. There is a danger that the AGPBJP alliance might give a new Hindutva thrust to Assamese nationalism.
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