Guwahati, March 24 Senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Tuesday that the Assam assembly elections would be a contest between the "real" and the "fake" Congress, asserting that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is leading the latter.
He expressed confidence that people would vote in favour of the "real" Congress, led by state party president Gaurav Gogoi.
"This time, the election in Assam is not BJP versus Congress. Rather, it is a contest between the real Congress and ‘fake’ Congress," Baghel said.
"The real Congress is led by Gaurav Gogoi, while the ‘fake’ Congress is headed by Sarma. Recently, Bhupen Bora and Pradyut Bordoloi also joined. Therefore, this fight is between the real Congress and the ‘fake’ one," he maintained.
Sarma was a minister in three successive Congress governments in Assam from 2001 before joining the BJP in August 2015.
Bhupen Bora, a former state Congress chief, and Pradyut Bordoloi, a Lok Sabha MP from the party, have defected to the BJP and are candidates in the upcoming elections.
Asserting that there is a favourable wave for the Congress, Baghel said, "After Gogoi assumed leadership, a new political atmosphere has emerged in Assam. This time, the people will give Congress an opportunity to form the government under his leadership."
Baghel, who is the party’s election observer for the state, also alleged that people want an end to the "misrule and intimidation by one of the most corrupt chief ministers in the country".
Elections for the 126-member Assembly will be held on April 9, and votes will be counted on May 4.