Assam Assembly elections | In Assam battle, more to alliances than meets the eye

Assam’s mandate 2021 is likely to go into the record books as the first among three blocs rather the major parties that lead them. For the bloc headed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the other two are like a double-edged sword. The BJP heads for the polls with a fairly clean image, particularly of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and a large portion of its Hindu votes intact. Its grassroots connect and pampering of tea plantation workers — a major voting force in 45 of the State’s 126 Assembly seats — are its strength despite the lack of a ‘Modi wave’ as in 2016.