In the recently concluded elections to the Karbi Autonomous Council, out of 26 seats, Congress won 15, and the PAPA (People’s Alliance for Peace Agreement) won 8, while independents won 3, including two dissidents who joined Congress after elections.
CPI(ML) Liberation contested 19 seats and Holiram Terang’s people’s Front in 3. BJP contested 15 seats. But in face of the sharp polarization between Congress and PAPA, all others got only marginal votes with no seats.
PAPA had been extremely confident of wresting the Council from the Congress, highlighting the ‘achievement’ of the peace agreement between UPDS and the Government. It contested on a plank of ‘peace, development and implementation of Agreement.’ But in fact, as the election results show, PAPA, instead of evolving as a political alternative to the Congress, proved itself to be dependent on the Congress, and its poll plank, with its focus on the 25 November 2011 Agreement, only helped Congress retain and regain strength.
CPI(ML) opposed the 25 November 2011 Agreement as surrender of and betrayal of the movement for Autonomous State. The party will continue to carry forward the Autonomous State movement and Karbi People’s movement against corruption and plunder.
