Spring In Their Steps

T.S. Eliot might have bel­ieved that April is the cruelest month, but ask any Assamese and the answer will probably be a snarky comment about the utter absurdity of such a thought. The advent of spring heralds Bohag in Assam—the month of joyous and fun-filled celebrations that unites the state for Rongali Bihu, the biggest and most colourful of all social events in the state. Most people of the state would surely welcome the festivities and some soul-cleansing Bihu songs after months of bitter acrimony and tasteless barbs that flew around as the state voted to elect a new government.

The three-phase elections in the state ended on April 6, marking the beginning of a long wait for the results on May 2. And perhaps also kicking off the Bihu celebrations. No wonder, a few polling booths in the last phase were decked up in Bihu themes. At a voting station in Goalpara, the women polling personnel wore identical mekhela-sador—the traditional Assamese attire.

But it will not be all song and dance for the ruling BJP-led alliance this election, though the pundits say that it might just scrape through in what was one of the most fier­cely-fought polls in recent times. If 2016 was a big revelation for the BJP, when it managed to wrest Assam for the first time, 2021 could be an ever bigger revelation. Or that’s what the eight-party alliance led by the Congress feels. “I’m extremely confident of doing well. We will form the Mahajot government comfortably. The people of Assam have responded tremendously to the Congress campaign in the last few months,” says MP and Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi.  

Minister and BJP’s main strategist Himanta Biswa Sarma (Twitter image, above) has already predicted 100+ seats out of 126 for the ruling alliance. But that projection could be more out of optimism than ground reality. Sarma, however, did carry the alliance’s campaigning with relentless vigour and enthusiasm, even crossing the line of decency once that earned him a 48-hour ban by the Election Commission for threatening BPF chief and his former ally Hagrama Mohilary. The ban was later reduced to 24 hours, allowing Sarma to campaign on the last day. On polling day, he was in queue—without a mask—as he turned out to cast his vote in a traditional dhoti and kurta.

Experts say that the BJP’s calculations might have gone wrong in the tea and oil-rich belt, which went to the polls in the first phase on March 27. In 2016, the BJP had swept the region winning 41 of the 47 seats; the Congress had managed just six. On March 28, AIUDF chief and Congress ally Badruddin Ajmal tweeted, “I am very happy to hear from my friends in upper Assam that the Congress-led #Mahajot has swept the first phase. The lowest figure I am hearing from anyone is 30 seats. AIUDF looks forward to supporting a Congress Chief Minister after 2 May.” For Ajmal, a win will be sweet revenge for the relentless BJP campaign against him, identifying him as a ‘Mughal’ and vilified for his religion.

Long ago, balladeer Bhupen Hazarika wrote that Bohag is not just a month but the “lifeline” of the Assamese. On May 2, the world will know if the people have given ano­ther lifeline to the BJP. Or thrown the dice in favour the Congress-AIUDF. Till that time, however, Assam will sing and dance to foot-tapping Bihu music. For a couple of weeks at least, the spirit of the season will, probably, triumph over politics and pettiness.