AJP & Raijor Dal helped BJP, says AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh

* 'Both the parties need to do some soul searching on how they ended up helping the very forces that they were seeking to oppose'

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: A day after the declaration of Assembly election results, AICC (All India Congress Committee) general secretary and APCC (Assam Pradesh Congress Committee) in-charge Jitendra Singh has stated that the AJP (Assam Jatiya Parishad) and Raijor Dal factor helped the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) consolidate its position in the Upper Assam region.

He underlined that AJP and Raijor Dal need to do some 'soul searching' on how they ended up 'helping' the very forces that they were seeking to oppose.

"In terms of vote-share, the gap between the two alliances is not very big. We have to now analyse the election results to do better in future elections. In terms of seats, the tally of the Congress went up by 3 seats (from 26 in 2016 to 29 now). We lost 7 seats by a margin of fewer than 5,000 votes," said Singh while addressing the media here.

Further, taking the sole responsibility for the Mahajoot's defeat, Singh congratulated Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for the Mitrajoot's victory.

"We respectfully accept the mandate given by the people of Assam and congratulate all the successful candidates and the parties. I take this opportunity to thank the people of Assam who voted for congress and reposed their faith in INC's ideology. We are given the role of a responsible and strong Opposition with about 50 seats in the house of 126. We shall strive to do our duty in the best interest of the people of Assam. We will continue to voice the challenges being faced by the people of Assam and will always fight for their rights," said Singh.

He underlined that Congress will form a high-level committee to find out the reasons behind its defeat. Following the recommendations provided by the committee, the party will rectify its mistakes, he said.

Singh expressed hope that the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) will fulfil its electoral promises.

"We hope that the BJP will fulfil its electoral promises — more so the promise to provide jobs and employment opportunities. We also hope that the financial support schemes of the government would continue and were not just initiatives to get people's votes. We sincerely hope that the BJP government will continue to provide financial aid to the tea garden workers after the elections. We urge the government to increase their wages so that they can live a life of dignity," said the APCC in-charge.

The press conference was also addressed by former APCC president Ripun Bora, MP Pradyut Bordoloi, MLA Rockybul Hussain, MP Gaurav Gogoi and Mahajoot partners Manjit Mahanta, Maheswar Deuri, Shanul Alam Mustafa and Deben Bhattacharyya.

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