1978 Assam Legislative Assembly election

1978 Assam Legislative Assembly election

←  1972 25 February 1978 1983  →
All 126 seats in the Legislature of Assam 64 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   INC Leader Golap Borbora - Party Janata Party Indian National Congress Leader since 1978 - Leader's seat Tinsukia - Last election New 95 Seats won 53 34 Seat change New 61 Percentage 27.55% 32.4% Swing New 20.8pp
CM before election Sarat Chandra Singha INC Elected CM Golap Borbora JP

The 1978 Assam Legislative Assembly election was held to elect members for 126 assembly seats to constitute the seventh Assam Legislative Assembly on February 25 1978. ^[1] The Janata Party formed the first non-Congress government led by Golap Borbora with 53 seats on March 12, 1978. He resigned as chief minister on September 4, 1979 after losing the support of a majority of MLAs. Jogendra Nath Hazarika was sworn in as chief minister on 9 November 1978. But he held the CM’s chair for only 94 days, as central government imposed President's rule in Assam. ^{[2] [3]}

Background

The Navnirman Andolan, which erupted in December 1973 started on the issue of hike in fees for an engineering college in Gujarat, Jayaprakash Narayan's movement against corruption, a three week long Bihar rail strike led by socialist leader George Fernandes, had destabilized the political atmosphere of India. ^[4] The sterilization program, which was tried to be implemented forcefully by Sanjay Gandhi, son of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi also created a lot of public outrage . ^[5]

Results

S. No	Party		Party-type	Contested	Won	Votes polled %	Vote % in seats contested
1		Communist Party of India	National	35	5	4.09	14.39
2		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	National	27	11	5.62	25.87
3		Indian National Congress	National	126	26	23.62	23.62
4		Indian National Congress	National	115	8	8.78	9.84
5		Janata Party	National	117	53	27.55	29.95
6		All India Forward Bloc	State	3	0	0.09	4.28
7		Plain Tribals Council of Assam	State	9	4	2.60	32.54
8		Revolutionary Socialist Party	State	6	0	0.44	8.85
9		All India Gorkha League	Registered	1	0	0.04	6.08
10		Revolutionary Communist Party of India	Registered	10	4	1.40	17.68
11		Socialist Unity Centre of India	Registered	4	0	0.07	2.29
12		Independent politician			15	25.67	26.50
Total	126
Source: ECI [2]

Elected members

Constituency	Reserved for (SC/ST/None)	Member	Party
Ratabari	SC	Lilamoy Das		Janata Party
Patharkandi	None	Fakrul Islam		Independent
Karimganj North	None	Nishith Ranjan Das		Communist Party of India
Karimganj South	None	Abdul Muqtadir Choudhury		Indian National Congress
Badarpur	None	Ramendra De		Communist Party of India
Hailakandi	None	Dipak Bhattacharjee		Communist Party of India
Katlicherra	None	Gouri Sankar Roy		Indian National Congress
Algapur	None	Nepal Chandra Das		Indian National Congress
Silchar	None	Noorul Kuda		Communist Party of India
Sonai	None	Altaf Hossain Mazumdar		Janata Party
Dholai	SC	Sisir Ranjan Das		Indian National Congress
Udharbond	None	Jagannath Singh		Janata Party
Lakhipur	None	Kazi Kutub Uddin Ahmed		Independent
Barkhola	None	A.f.golam Osmani		Janata Party
Katigora	None	Abdul Kiyum Choudhury		Indian National Congress
Haflong	ST	Sona Ram Thaosen		Janata Party
Bokajan	ST	Bilton G.momin		Janata Party
Howraghat	ST	Barelong Terang		Janata Party
Diphu	ST	Gandhi Ram Timung		Janata Party
Baithalangso	ST	Dhani Ram Rongpi		Indian National Congress
Mankachar	None	Zahirul Islam		Janata Party
Salmara South	None	Dewan Joynal Abedin		Independent
Dhubri	None	Mohammad Umaruddin		Indian National Congress
Gauripur	None	Mohammad Azad Ali		Janata Party
Golakganj	None	Aluddin Sarkar		Communist Party of India
Bilasipara West	None	Gaisuddin Ahmed		Independent
Bilasipara East	None	Surat Chanddra Sinha		Indian National Congress
Gossaigaon	None	Mathias Tudu		Indian National Congress
Kokrajhar West	ST	Ranendra Narayan Basumatari		Indian National Congress
Kokrajhar East	ST	Samar Brahma Choudhury		Plain Tribals Council of Assam
Sidli	ST	Panchanan Brahma		Plain Tribals Council of Assam
Bongaigaon	None	Mathura Mohan Sinha		Janata Party
Bijni	None	Padmalochan Boro		Independent
Abhayapuri North	None	Pani Medhi		Independent
Abhayapuri South	SC	Rabindra Nath Choudhury		Janata Party
Dudhnai	ST	Jagat Chandra Patgiri		Janata Party
Goalpara East	None	Birendra Nath Choudhury		Communist Party of India
Goalpara West	None	Nazmul Haque		Independent
Jaleswar	None	Afzalur Rahman		Janata Party
Sorbhog	None	Hemen Das		Communist Party of India
Bhabanipur	None	Tarini Charan Das		Janata Party
Patacharkuchi	None	Bhubaneswar Barman		Janata Party
Barpeta	None	A. Latif		Independent
Jania	None	Abdus Sobhan		Indian National Congress
Baghbar	None	Ibrahim Ali		Indian National Congress
Sarukhetri	None	Sirajul Haque		Independent
Chenga	None	Danes Ali Ahmed		Indian National Congress
Boko	SC	Umesh Chandra Das		Janata Party
Chaygaon	None	A. N. Akram Hussain		Indian National Congress
Palasbari	None	Harendra Goswami		Janata Party
Jalukbari	None	Lakhyadhar Choudhury		Janata Party
Dispur	None	Tarini Mohan Barua		Janata Party
Gauhati East	None	Ajoy Kumar Dutta		Janata Party
Gauhati West	None	Kiran Chandra Bezbarua		Janata Party
Hajo	None	Rabindra Nath Malakar		Janata Party
Kamalpur	None	Daibasakti Deka		Janata Party
Rangiya	None	Purna Boro		Communist Party of India
Tamulpur	None	Padam Bahadur Chouhan		Janata Party
Nalbari	None	Narendra Nath Dutta		Communist Party of India
Barkhetry	None	Seikh Chand Mahammad		Janata Party
Dharmapur	None	Ramani Barman		Janata Party
Barama	ST	Baikuntha Nath Das		Indian National Congress
Chapaguri	ST	Manik Chandra Das		Independent
Panery	None	Ramesh Chandra Saharia		Independent
Kalaigaon	None	Nagen Sarma		Janata Party
Sipajhar	None	Madhab Rajbanshi		Janata Party
Mangaldoi	SC	Anil Das		Janata Party
Dalgaon	None	Syeda Anwara Taimur		Indian National Congress
Udalguri	ST	Binoy Kumar Basumatary		Plain Tribals Council of Assam
Majbat	None	Silvius Condpan		Janata Party
Dhekiajuli	None	Pratap Kalita		Indian National Congress
Barchalla	None	Kamal Chandra Basumatari		Plain Tribals Council of Assam
Tezpur	None	Jiban Bora		Janata Party
Rangapara	None	Golok Rajbanshi		Indian National Congress
Sootea	None	Golok Kakati		Janata Party
Biswanath	None	Kosheswar Bora		Janata Party
Behali	None	Bishnulal Upadhaya		Indian National Congress
Gohpur	None	Ram Chandra Sarmah		Janata Party
Jagiroad	SC	Prasad Chandra Doloi		Indian National Congress
Marigaon	None	Kaliram Dekta Raja		Indian National Congress
Laharighat	None	Abul Kashem		Indian National Congress
Raha	SC	Baliram Das		Janata Party
Dhing	None	Md. Samsul Huda		Revolutionary Communist Party of India
Batadroba	None	Baneswar Saikia		Revolutionary Communist Party of India
Rupohihat	None	Mohammad Idris		Indian National Congress
Nowgong	None	Mukut Sarma		Indian National Congress
Barhampur	None	Lakeshwar Gohain		Janata Party
Samaguri	None	Bhabendra Kumar Saikia		Janata Party
Kaliabor	None	Atil Chandra Goswami		Independent
Jamunamukh	None	Mujamil Ali Choudhury		Janata Party
Hojai	None	Santi Ranjan Das Gupta		Janata Party
Lumding	None	Biresh Misra		Communist Party of India
Bokakhat	None	Chatra Gopal Karmakar		Indian National Congress
Sarupathar	None	Aklius Tirkey		Indian National Congress
Golaghat	None	Soneswar Bora		Janata Party
Khumtai	None	Nogen Borua		Janata Party
Dergaon	SC	Ramesh Das		Janata Party
Jorhat	None	Dulal Chandra Baruah		Janata Party
Majuli	ST	Chakbhal Kagyang		Janata Party
Titabar	None	Giridhar Thengal		Communist Party of India
Mariani	None	Gajen Tanti		Indian National Congress
Teok	None	Devananda Boara		Janata Party
Amguri	None	Khagen Borbarua		Revolutionary Communist Party of India
Nazira	None	Hiteswar Saikia		Indian National Congress
Mahmara	None	Budha Barua		Revolutionary Communist Party of India
Sonari	None	Satya Tati		Indian National Congress
Thowra	None	Jogen Gogoi		Communist Party of India
Sibsagar	None	Promode Gogoi		Communist Party of India
Bihpuria	None	Premadhar Bora		Independent
Naoboicha	None	Afazuddin Ahmed		Independent
Lakhimpur	None	Sulo Bora		Communist Party of India
Dhakuakhana	ST	Lakhya Nath Doley		Indian National Congress
Dhemaji	ST	Purna Chandra Bora		Independent
Jonai	ST	Romesh Mohan Kouli		Janata Party
Moran	None	Joy Chandra Nagbanshi		Indian National Congress
Dibrugarh	None	Keshab Chandra Gogoi		Janata Party
Lahowal	None	Dipak Moormoo		Indian National Congress
Duliajan	None	Jogen Hazarika		Janata Party
Tingkhong	None	Bhadreswar Gogoi		Janata Party
Naharkatia	None	Sasha Kamal Handique		Communist Party of India
Chabua	None	Jnan Gogoi		Janata Party
Tinsukia	None	Golap Borborah		Janata Party
Digboi	None	Rameswar Dhanowar		Indian National Congress
Margherita	None	Kul Bahadur Chetri		Janata Party
Doom Dooma	None	Dileswar Tanti		Indian National Congress
Sadiya	None	Bipin Hazarika		Communist Party of India

References

1. The Times of India (24 February 1978). "Janata upswing in Assam and Arunachal". ProQuest   594712550 . Retrieved 30 July 2024.
2. "STATISTICAL REPORTS OF GENERAL ELECTION TO STATE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (VIDHANSABHA) 1978". Election Commission of india. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
3. "Assam Legislative Assembly - Members 1978-83". Govt. of Assam. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
4. "Four reasons why India Gandhi declared emergency". Indian Express. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
5. Pradhanmantri - Episode 12: Emergency in India, ABP News. ABP News.