Guwahati, Sep 3 : BJP leader Mission Ranjan Das, who was recently elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Assam, said the party always awarded its loyalists.

Das, a four-time MLA from the Karimganj district, said, "If anybody remains loyal to the BJP, the leadership always takes note of this fact and the person is awarded proper responsibility."

This is the first instance that the BJP nominated a Hindu Bengali leader from Assam to the Upper House of the Parliament.

Recalling the 2011 Assembly polls, he mentioned, "Our party's performance was poor in the 2011 Assembly elections in the state. Following the elections, it became very tough to continue even the party offices in the state. We lost a good number of MLAs and I was also defeated after a decade. However, the party workers did tremendous jobs and the BJP bounced back strongly within a few years."

Das also spoke about the Karimganj parliamentary constituency, from where the BJP secured a win in the Lok Sabha polls even though Muslim voters in that seat outnumbered Hindu voters by nearly 2 lakhs.

"The fight was very tough in the Karimganj Lok Sabha seat. But our party workers walked the extra mile to win this seat. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma came five times here before the election and galvanised the party workers and local leaders. As a combination of all these efforts, BJP won this seat with a comfortable margin," he added.

He also advised the party grassroots workers to remain in touch with the voters in their areas.

He said, "Before the Lok Sabha polls of this year, we thought that the BJP would easily cross the 300-mark in the Lok Sabha. But we could win only 240 seats. Voters always observe how workers of a particular party behave and then decide whom to vote for. We should never forget this fact."

The Assembly polls in Assam will be held in 2026.

"For the development of an area, it must have local representatives belonging to the ruling party. Keeping this fact in mind, we should start preparing for the Assembly elections from now onwards", he said.

/IANS