GUWAHATI: Campaigning in 47 constituencies in northern and upper Assam, which started with Prime Minister Narendra Modi three months back, ended at a feverish pitch at 6pm on Thursday, setting the stage for the first phase of election on March 27 that will go down as an election without an issue concerning life and livelihood of voters.
Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah addressed a combined 18 rallies in the past three months in Assam, lambasting Baddruddin Ajmal and his party AIUDF’s alliance with Congress, as BJP continued projecting itself as the sole protector of Assam’s identity, the same posture, which gave its first victory in 2016.
Rising prices of essential commodities, cost of fuel, inter-state border skirmishes with Arunachal and Nagaland threatening lives and properties of people, poor condition of national highways, issues surrounding drinking water, high infant and maternal mortality rates and Ulfa peace talks did not feature in talks.
Skipping these matters of life and livelihood was a trap well laid by BJP for Congress to pave the way for its second term in power. Consequently, Congress was left with only defensive strokes during the campaign period.
Both parties rushed their campaigning period wooing tea garden voters, who matter the most in the first phase, as each tried to outsmart the other on promises on increasing daily wages of workers. Both BJP and Congress only made promises of lakhs of jobs without saying unemployment was a concern in the state.