Though election results of five poll-bound states will be announced on 2 May, everything looks gloomy for the Congress party, which has literally got nothing to lose. Thus, their decision to send their legislators to Jaipur was surprising given their suspicion that the BJP may poach a few of them for staking claim to power even by being in the opposition.
As many as 26 MLAs of the Congress from Assam and a few from AIUDF were sent to Congress-ruled Rajasthan, fearing that they might break after the declaration of the results, given the high uncertainties after 2 May. After the second and third phase polling in Assam, the picture is getting pretty much clear as issues like the CAA and NRC were resonating in the minds of the electorates featuring in their choices.
This may not sound music to Sarbananda Sonowal looking for another term in office as in the face of BJPs imminent defeat in Assam his deputy Himanta Biswa Sarma would want to stake claim to power by taking Congress’s support if the BJP dares to break the Congress constituents, especially the Bodoland People’s Front in Assam. In this regard, Himanta Biswa Sarma might enter into an understanding with the Congress by mellowing his Hindutva rhetoric.
A practical reality for his engagement with the secular and liberal bandwagon like Congress which gave political sense and space to a leader like Himanta Biswa Sarma who in 2016 quit the grand old party for an alliance with the ideologically opposite BJP. Let’s wait for the outcome.