Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party's strategic decision to introduce fresh faces by dropping 21 sitting MLAs paid off handsomely as the party secured a third consecutive assembly election victory in Assam. Of the 90 candidates fielded by the BJP, 16 were first-time contenders, and all of them emerged victorious, contributing to the party's impressive tally of 82 seats in the 126-member assembly.
Strategic Injection of New Blood
The list of candidates included six seasoned party veterans, among them three serving state general secretaries who have dedicated decades to the organization, alongside 10 young aspirants. This careful blend of experience and youth, prioritizing winnability over incumbency, proved instrumental in the National Democratic Alliance's decisive win. The gamble yielded strong returns, with every first-time candidate winning their seat, helping the BJP cross the majority mark of 64 on its own.
Party Spokesperson's Perspective
Assam BJP chief spokesperson Kishore Kumar Upadhyay explained that introducing new faces is a routine exercise for the party. "It is done based on ground reports against sitting MLAs as well as the newly introduced candidates. The party never gives a ticket to any sitting MLA facing anti-incumbency or with low winning probability," Upadhyay said. He added that this trend was observed in this election as well, and it paid off significantly.
BJP denied tickets to 19 sitting MLAs, including senior leader Siddhartha Bhattacharya, former deputy speaker Numal Momin, cabinet minister Nandita Gorlosa, and Suman Haripriya, daughter of veteran BJP leader and three-time former MP from Guwahati, Bijoya Chakravarty.
Key First-Time Winners
Upadhyay highlighted that fielding BJP's old guard Vijay Kumar Gupta (70) in Guwahati Central proved to be a right decision. "Guwahati Central is a reconfigured seat due to delimitation from the erstwhile Gauhati West seat, which was never won by BJP. The seat remained with BJP's ally AGP in the 2016 and 2021 elections," he added. Gupta was contesting an election for the first time.
Besides Gupta, senior party worker Mridul Kumar Dutta contested from Dergaon, while all three serving general secretaries — Diplu Ranjan Sarma (New Guwahati), former Lok Sabha MP and state minister Pallab Lochan Das (Biswanath), and Pulok Gohain (Tinsukia) — were given tickets for the first time and all won with sizeable margins.
The youth were not left behind. Pabitra Rabha won the Goalpara West (ST) seat, while Himanshu Shekhar Baishya (Palasbari), Dhiraj Gowala (Titatbor), Milon Das (Hailakandi), Rishiraj Hazarika (Ranganadi), Rupali Langthasa (Haflong, ST), Raju Mech (Boko-Chaygaon, ST), and Victor Kumar Das (Goreswar) were also among the winners.
