Guwahati, May 12: The opposition platform ASOM has come out swinging against the BJP’s sweeping win in the recent Panchayat elections in Assam, calling it a “mockery of democracy” and warning that only a united opposition can prevent further electoral damage in 2026.
In a sharp joint statement, ASOM leaders Ajit Kumar Bhuyan (Rajya Sabha MP and alliance president) and Lurinjyoti Gogoi (Assam Jatiya Parishad president and general secretary of ASOM) accused the BJP of using state machinery, police pressure, and voter intimidation to secure wins across multiple Panchayati bodies.
“The BJP held democracy hostage to manufacture a victory,” the statement read, claiming that voters were blackmailed with threats of losing access to welfare schemes and that police were deployed to disrupt opposition campaigns. “This election has set a new low in Assam’s political history.”
ASOM also accused BJP leaders of importing “Bihar and Uttar Pradesh-style dirty tricks” involving money and muscle to tilt the electoral playing field. According to Bhuyan and Gogoi, the BJP’s projected popularity in Assam is nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion built on coercion and manipulation.
Crucially, the alliance leaders stressed that the real enabler of BJP’s dominance is the splintering of opposition votes. “Every time BJP sweeps, it’s not because they’re unbeatable—it’s because the opposition is divided,” they said. “There’s no alternative now: if we want to defeat an anti-democratic, anti-people regime, we must unite.”
With eyes on the 2026 elections, ASOM has thrown down the gauntlet, urging all secular and democratic forces—especially those opposed to both BJP and AIUDF—to come together and build a credible political front.
