MARIANI, Dec 13 ? The Congress and the BJP suffered a humiliating defeat in the town committee polls at Mariani, with the Nationalist Congress Party bagging all the five seats. The huge margins of defeat lays bare the fact that the public was well aware of the failure of the Congress govt in the region. It showed that the public was keen for a change. It may be mentioned that Mariani is the Assembly seat of Cabinet Minister Rupam Kurmi and also adjacent to Tarun Gogoi?s base Titabor. Moreover, MP Bijoy Krishna Handique is also a Congressman. In such a scence, a Congress defeat in the TC polls is astonishing but obvious.
On analysing, it is seen that since a decade the government has turned a deaf ear to the basic problems of the town. The urban water supply project, whose foundation was laid on 1991 still remains incondite. The government also failed to give land ?patta? to the people in its 13-year term. The fire brigade station is in a sorry condition since 1987. The streets are being lit only by the glowworm. The condition of lanes and drains are deteriorating. The frustration of the people evoking from the conditions came out in the ballot paper which resulted in an alternative govt in the form of the NCP. The NCP was successful in exploiting these issues in its favour. The urge for a change had also been exhibited in the past Assembly elections when NCP candidate Alok Ghose grabbed majority of the votes in the town area.
The people were also swayed by the proclamations of the NCP. The NCP had claimed that on winning facility within 2 years or else resign. Now that the public has expressed their confidence in the NCP candidates it is upto them to keep up to the expectations. But with the Congress sitting on its head it would not be a smooth side.