Guwahati, May 24 (UNI) The BJP continued its winning streak in Assam by bagging nine Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress managed to hold its ground in the state by retaining its tally at three seats.
The ruling coalition partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) failed to open their account once again, while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) was reduced to a single victory against its three wins in last Lok Sabha polls.
The lone Independent MP from the state, Naba Sarania from Kokrajhar, retained his seat.
The highest victory margin was registered by Rameswar Teli of BJP as he retained the Dibrugarh seat by over 3.6 lakh votes.
Pradan Baruah of BJP too retained his Lakhimpur seat by over 3.5 lakh vote margin, while Queen Oja made her Lok Sabha debut as she retained Guwahati constituency for the party by over 3.4 lakh vote margin.
The two state ministers in fray, Topon Gogoi and Pallab Lochan Das, also made their Lok Sabha debut while retaining Jorhat and Tezpur constituencies for BJP.
The two seats in southern Assam, Silchar and Karimganj, from which BJP had won its first seats in the Lok Sabha in 1991 were once again together in the party's kitty with Rajdeep Roy and Kripanath Mallah sailing through.
The BJP won the Autonomous Districts (Diphu) seat for the first time as it's candidate Horen Sing Bey emerged winner.
The ruling party also retained Mangaldai constituency as Dilip Saikia emerged victorious.
Against BJP's stellar performance, its allies AGP and BPF bit the dust, failing to open their accounts for the second consecutive time.
Under a seat sharing arrangement between the ruling coalition partners, BJP had contested in 10 seats, AGP in three and BPF in one.
The Congress managed to keep its tally at three seats as in 2014 Lok Sabha election, though it lost two of the seats it had previously held, including the Silchar seat held by All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev.
The Opposition party retained Kaliabor as Gaurav Gogoi won a second term, while it out Barpeta and Nagaon also in its bag.
The party had contested in all 14 seats in the state.
As AIUDF lost two of its previously held seats, the only consolation for the party was the victory of its chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal for third successive term by a margin of over 2.2 lakh votes.
The AIUDF had contested in only three seats that it had won in last Lok Sabha election.
UNI SG RN