ASSAM POLL: WELFARE AND INFRA HOG THE LIMELIGHT

The north-eastern state, which has a 126-member assembly, votes tomorrow. A ground report.

- Ruhi Tewari

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (left) addresses a public gathering in Nagaon, Assam, on 15 February; a file photo of the opposition Congress Party's Gaurav Gogoi.

On a cool, rainy April day, a group of women sell vegetables on the roadside in Motha Dang village in Sivasagar, upper Assam.

They are vocal about their choices and motivations in the upcoming election. "We have received a lot of benefits from the government—cash transfers, free ration, rural houses, gas connections and more. Plus, it has made roads, highways and bridges," says Pranali Kalita Bora, noting that the government has done a lot for women and for the poor. Biju Saikia, Kalpana Saikia and Deepika Gogoi concur with that summation.

As with the last election, infrastructure and welfare delivery have again emerged as the biggest buzzwords in the run-up to this election. Despite chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempting to make a sharp detour from the state's ethnic identity politics to strike a communal tone, conversations on the ground revolve around 'unnayan' (development) and 'xubidha' (benefits).

Assam, which has a 126-member assembly, votes on Thursday, 9 April, with counting scheduled for 4 May along with other poll-bound states. In the 2021 election, the BJP won 60 seats with a 33.2% vote share, while the Congress won 29 seats and cornered a vote share of 29.2%.

There is much at stake both for the ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress, and for the two state leaders leading these respective camps: CM Sarma and Gaurav Gogoi.

Across Assam, the biggest conversation points in this election are around roads, highways and flyovers on the one hand, and cash transfers, free ration, rural housing and overall state aid on the other. Voters see these as the most crucial factors influencing their voting decisions.