The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday swept the elections to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), winning all 26 seats, a few narrowly.
The Congress, once a strong force in the tribal council, drew a blank with some of its candidates finishing third behind independents.
“It’s a clean sweep for the @BJP4Assam in the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council by winning all 26 seats. Tremendous performance by the party under the guiding light of PM @narendramodi Ji and able leadership of @himantabiswa Ji,” BJP national vice-president and Assam in-charge Baijayant Jay Panda tweeted.
The KAAC is made up of 30 members, four of whom are nominated. The elections to the 26 seats were held on June 8.
The BJP, which had won 24 seats in the 2017 KAAC polls, credited its “historic” performance to its “people-friendly” approach.
“The Congress not only scored zero but failed to put up a contest. We won by a bigger margin of votes in most seats compared to the last time,” BJP leader and Minister Pijush Hazarika told journalists.
He admitted the Aam Admi Party (AAP), which had contested 10 seats, has made some inroads, adding “But the party has essentially eaten into the votes of Congress.”
The Congress tried to put up a brave face after the third straight debacle this year. The party had drawn a blank in the Guwahati Municipal Corporation elections and fared poorly in the polls to 80 civic bodies across Assam earlier.
“We did not expect much on the KAAC elections. It is not unusual for a ruling party in a State to win the local elections,” State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah said.
The KAAC polls also saw the Left-leaning Autonomous State Demand Committee, which had edged out the Congress in the 1989 polls by winning 22 seats, failing to stage a comeback.
