New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday said that despite a "manipulated delimitation" exercise in Assam, it retained three MPs and claimed that "the countdown" to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's exit has begun.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that despite the chief minister's best efforts to suppress the Congress, it received 37.48 per cent of the votes polled in Assam, almost double its previous vote share and surpassed the BJP's 37.43 per cent vote share.

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"In spite of the manipulated delimitation exercise in Assam, the Indian National Congress retained three MP seats," Ramesh said.

Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi's margin increased by nearly 2 lakh votes and despite the 25 public meetings held by the Assam chief minister to defeat Gaurav Gogoi, he won with an over 1 lakh margin, he said.

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"In spite of the BJP's best efforts to prop up Badruddin Ajmal, Rakibul Hussain swept the Dhubri Lok Sabha with a historic margin.

AIUDF supremo and three-time MP Badruddin Ajmal was defeated there by a record margin of 10,12,476 votes by Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain.

"Time to go Mukhya Mantri! The countdown to Himanta Biswa Sarma's exit has begun," Ramesh said.

The Congress won three of the 14 seats in Assam with the BJP bagging nine, and regional parties winning two.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)