The dates for the Assam Assembly elections 2021 were announced on Friday by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The elections will take place in three phases from March 27 to April 6. The announcement of the dates has taken the BJP led government in Assam by surprise. This was evident from the fact that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal rushed to virtually inaugurate welfare schemes and projects lined up for the next few days.
The real dampener for the BJP was that after the news about the announcement of the election dates came out on Friday morning, CM Sonowal had to cancel his scheduled visits to Barak Valley in southern Assam, which is an important bastion for the saffron party. The Chief Minister was slated to inaugurate the functioning of the mini secretariat which was a long-cherished dream of the people of the Barak Valley region.
With no option of reaching the Barak Valley before the Model Code of Conduct comes into play, a virtual inauguration was hurriedly organized by the government at Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati where CM Sonowal virtually inaugurated the mini secretariat and announced a number of schemes for the Barak Valley region.