NEW DELHI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarm on Tuesday made a big claim that BJP could win all 126 assembly seats in the state in the 2031 Vidhan Sabha elections if it wins the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled for October 6.Speaking at a presser, BJP leader Sarma said Nagaon has not traditionally been a BJP stronghold but claimed that the party has seen a “visible change” in its favour over the past month.The Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency has eight assembly segments. Sarma said the BJP won four of them — Morigaon, Raha, Jagiroad and Nagaon-Batadraba — by around 50,000 votes each in the 2026 assembly polls. The opposition won the remaining four — Rupohihat, Laharighat, Dhing and Samaguri — by margins of more than 1.5 lakh votes each.“Let us wait for the bypoll results… If the BJP manages to win this Lok Sabha seat, then the party will secure all 126 assembly constituencies in the 2031 polls,” he said.Sarma said the political mood in the constituency was shifting towards the BJP and claimed the party’s position was improving with each passing day.“Even before the elections were announced, many people joined the BJP even in constituencies where we do not have MLAs,” he added.Asked about the opposition’s prospects, the chief minister said his focus was on the BJP-led alliance rather than individual opposition leaders.“I am not interested in either AIUDF’s Badruddin Ajmal or Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi but only in the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance. We will continue to do good work and people will be in our favour.”However, Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi expressed confidence that the party would win the upcoming Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election, saying the Congress would mount a strong campaign.Speaking to reporters, Gogoi said, “We are very confident of putting up a solid campaign, and we are confident of a victory in the forthcoming Nagaon by-election.”Reacting to reports that AIUDF may field its president Badruddin Ajmal in the bypoll, Gogoi said the move reflected the Congress’ strong position in the constituency.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
He claimed the BJP had been rattled after the Congress announced its candidate and alleged that Ajmal was being brought into the contest to support Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.The BJP has fielded former IAS officer Debashish Sharma for the bypoll, while the Congress has nominated former MLA Sibamoni Bora. Three-time AIUDF MP Badruddin Ajmal is also contesting the seat.Polling for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll will be held on October 6, while counting is scheduled for April 9.The seat fell vacant after Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi, who had won Nagaon in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, joined the BJP and won the Dispur assembly seat in this year’s state polls.
