Guwahati: The results of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) election seems to have given a much needed boost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam.
The BJP captured 11 of the total 31 municipal wards as it took on the Congress in the June 19 elections. The results were declared June 24.
In two municipal wards, the BJP lost by just four and nine votes only.
In four municipal wards, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which once ruled Assam, cut into the BJP's vote share.
While the AGP won one municipal ward, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) drew a blank.
The BJP won four Lok Sabha seats in Assam in 2009 - Guwahati, Mangaldai, Silchar and Nagaon. The ruling Congress won seven seats.
The three other seats went to the AGP, AIUDF and the Bodoland People's Front, a Congress ally.
"The Guwahati corporation results are an indication that people's faith in the BJP has increased over the years," said a senior BJP leader.
"People from various parts of the state live in Guwahati, and so the voters of Guwahati represent the people of Assam," said the leader, adding his party came second only because the AGP was also in the fray.
"We would have actually drawn a tie with the Congress, which emerged as the largest party with 19 wards in the 31-member GMC," said BJP's Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakraborty.
Another BJP leader said that efforts were on to strengthen the base of the party. "We hope to win at least 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the next Lok Sabha battle."
Party sources said BJP president Rajnath Singh was scheduled to visit Guwahati July 3.
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