GUWAHATI : Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah asserted on Tuesday that the Lok Sabha poll results were a “moral victory” for the INDIA bloc, maintaining that people have “rejected the politics of religious polarisation”.

He also alleged that there was a “secret friendship” between BJP and AIUDF in the northeastern state, and the defeat of the AIUDF in this election would lead to the “weakening of the communal forces”.

Speaking to reporters outside the party headquarters here, Borah said, “This is a moral victory for the Congress-led INDIA bloc… it is evident from the people’s verdict.” He claimed that the BJP’s slogan of winning 400 seats and the exit polls were mere “hollow shows”, and “their politics of religious polarisation, violence has been rejected by the people”.

In Assam, the state chief maintained that not just the tally, the party’s vote share will also increase. “We are already decisively leading in three seats and will surely win the fourth. This will lead to an increase in our previous tally by one seat. Our vote share will also increase significantly,” he claimed. 

Borah said the party had to “fight against ‘bahubal’ (muscle power) of the ruling regime in the form of police, ED, CBI and others, and also ‘dhan bal’ (money power)”. 

 “If the BJP spent Rs 100, our candidate could spend only Rs 10. I am the first Congress president here to appeal for monetary support for candidates through social media,” he said, referring to a video message by him ahead of elections. Borah claimed that there was a “secret friendship” between the BJP and AIUDF as was evident in alleged cross-voting by AIUDF legislators during Rajya Sabha and presidential polls earlier.

 “People have voted against such politics today,” he added. With AIUDF trailing in all the three seats it had contested, Borah claimed that it was the end of the road for the Badruddin Ajmal-led party and will also ensure the “weakening of the other communal force in the state”. On what worked in favour of the Congress in the state, the party chief said the coming together of the non-BJP parties helped significantly.

Referring to Congress candidate Gaurav Gogoi marching towards victory in the Jorhat constituency, Borah said, “

In Jorhat, the entire state machinery was working against us. It was as if Himanta Biswa Sarma was the de facto candidate. But the people of Assam were like a sleeping lion and they woke up now.”

As the counting of votes continued for the 14 seats in the state, the BJP and its allies were leading in 11 seats and the Congress in three.