MANGALDAI, May 16 — Though the Congress wrested nine LS seats in Assam, it stands to lose in terms of LAC votes as its vote banks have eroded in several LACs like Nazira where the CPI LS candidate got 35,245 votes against the Congress candidate languishing with just 17,134 votes in the 2004 Parliamentary elections.
The Congress had got less votes, LAC-wise, in the areas of Cabinet ministers of Assam, Devananda Konwar, Hemoprava Saikia, Sarat Borkotoky and prominent Congress MLA Pranab Gogoi.
Meanwhile, the Sonari LAC represented by Sarat Borkotoky has recorded a reverse swing in the Congress vote bank getting only 33,978 votes in this LS election against 52,148 votes polled in the 1999 LS elections. In Mangaldai LAC, this time, Madhav Rajbangshi (INC) has of course done well by getting 47,111 votes. However, his party has got lesser amount of votes at Kamalpur (23,740) as against 37,032 of the BJP; at Rangiya 26,312 as against 40,270 of the BJP; at Nalbari 26,677 as against 33,921 votes polled by the BJP. A simple analysis of Congress losses of limited areas in terms of LAC votes this time shows that the Congress has suffered a setback here.