BJP always focused on minority voters, but without appeasement: Himanta

Guwahati: Asserting that the BJP has always been focused on minority voters without any appeasement policies, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the party's victory in the Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency in June and the recent bypoll in the Samaguri assembly seat reflects the success of its principal of treating all equally.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the BJP has its roadmap defined for the minority-dominated seats for the 2026 assembly elections.

"Our focus has always been on minority voters but with the principal 'appeasement to none, justice to all'. It has also been reflected in our 'sabka saath, sabka vikash' motto," he said.

Sarma claimed that as a result of this non-appeasement policy, the BJP had won the Karimganj Lok Sabha seat and now the Samaguri assembly constituency, both of which have about 65 per cent Muslim voters.

"Karimganj was the best and most critical result for me in the Lok Sabha polls. But everyone was writing about Jorhat and undermining Karinganj," he said, referring to the attention to Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi's victory.

The CM said the BJP has its roadmap defined for minority-dominated seats for the assembly polls, and though it cannot make an impact in all, it has identified at least five-six constituencies to make inroads.

"Keep an eye on Lahorighat, North and South Karimganj, Samaguri and Rupohi seats next elections. Whether BJP will win or not I cannot say, but we will give a good contest," he stated.

Sarma also claimed that the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF not contesting in Samaguri this time has worked in favour of the BJP.

"If the AIUDF had fielded its candidate, our votes would have gone to them. The AIUDF not being in the fray has worked for us," he said.

Describing the BJP-led ruling alliance's victory in all the five assembly seats in the by-elections as an "unprecedented success", the CM said, "Generally, bypolls ahead of general elections bring uncertainty for the ruling party and keep the government under pressure. But we are grateful to the people for their massive support. We were confident of winning four seats, but being able to get Samaguri out of Congress's clutches after 25 years has been something else." Besides Samaguri, bypolls were held in Behali, Dholai, Bongaigaon and Sidli.

Accusing the press of giving more attention to Behali where Gogoi was campaigning, Sarma said, "When I tracked coverage last month, it felt like there were no readers or viewers in Dholai, Bongaigaon and Sidli." Speaking at the felicitation programme for the three winning candidates at the BJP state headquarters later, Sarma said all of them were self-made with no political lineage.

"Our ideal is Narendra Modi, Atal Behari Vajyapee, not some royal family. For Congress, their ideals are the royal family, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi," he added.

He also affirmed that the BJP remains committed to its allies, and pointed out that it left the Bongaigaon and Sidli seats to AGP and UPPL for the bypolls.

"But the Congress snatched Behali from CPI(ML) Liberation, which had earlier contested there as the opposition alliance member," he said.

The CM said the bypolls were a reflection of the mood of the people in different parts of the state as all the assembly segments were located in specific geographical locations.

Mentioning the victory in Samaguri, he said, "It was a tough seat for us as the demography there was different from those who have been voting for BJP so far. But our policy of equal development worked." Referring to an attack on him while campaigning in Samaguri in 2016, he said, "It feels like justice that in the same panchayat where we had come under attack, we polled 49.5 per cent of the votes this time."