Foothold to stronghold

The BJP managed better chemistry with the Assam electorate, trumping the grand alliance's arithmetic

- PRATUL SHARMA

In 2006, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi ridiculed Badruddin Ajmal, asking who he was. Ajmal had floated a new party the previous year to represent the interests of Muslims in the state. Gogoi did not want to reinforce the Congress' pro-Muslim image, so he kept ignoring the perfume baron. The grand old party was presented as the sole representative of the ethnic Assamese identity.

However, in early 2020, as the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) raged across the state, 84-year-old Gogoi finally shed his resistance and batted for an alliance between Ajmal's All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and the Congress to defeat the BJP.

The Congress's rainbow alliance for the assembly elections—including parties like the AIUDF, the left and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF)—meant it was certain to increase its vote share and seats. But when the votes were counted, the alliance had almost the same vote share as the NDA, despite the latter facing the wrath of the people over the controversial citizenship law. The BJP managed better chemistry with the electorate, trumping the grand alliance's arithmetic.

The BJP created its narrative against the Congress-led alliance, terming it detrimental to Assam's interests, thus managing to turn the tide from anti-government sentiment to pro-incumbency. The polarisation was fuelled by fears of Bangladeshi Muslims capturing political power through the Congress-AIUDF alliance.