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GUWAHATI — The BJP has swept the 13th North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) elections in Assam, winning 25 out of the 28 seats.
Two of the three independent candidates who won seats are rebel BJP candidates.
The results of the polls were announced late Friday night.
In the 2019 autonomous council elections, the Congress had secured two seats. This time however, neither of the party candidates prevailed.
This year's autonomous council election saw the defeat of candidates from the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the BJP's ally in the Assam Assembly.
Prior to the election, the BJP candidates won six of the council's 28 seats without facing any opposition.
On January 8, the remaining 22 seats were put to a vote.
According to representatives of the State Election Commission, around 70 per cent of the 1,41,124 voters had cast their ballots.
Despite the calm conduct of the election, Trinamool Congress claimed that the BJP prevented voters from exercising their right to vote.
Debolal Garlosa was tipped by the BJP to be the autonomous council's Chief Executive Member (CEM).
The saffron camp had also fielded some surrendered insurgents.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had claimed responsibility for bringing the militants into the mainstream throughout the campaign and assured that those who turned themselves in would receive skill development training to help them find employment.
According to Garlosa, the BJP's campaigns were greatly influenced by the ways in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies had improved the lives of those living in their council.
"Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also one of the main factors in our win, aside from Modi Ji's development programs. He led us in every scenario and all the major plans are being carried out under his direction,” Garlosa mentioned.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Sushmita Dev had said during the election that her party was hoping to win some seats and take the lead opposition position in the autonomous council.
After the results, she said they were pleased with the votes they got and that this is a fresh start.
“We see this as a positive development. We shall keep fighting for the residents of the NC Hills Autonomous Council in the upcoming years because we have gotten a sizable amount of votes,” she told IANS.
“We are in second place in eight of the eleven seats, and the Congress party is in second place in only one of the twenty-two seats. This demonstrates our superior strength against the Congress in Dima Hasao.”
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