Guwahati, March 15 -- Hours before the Election Commission's announcement of the poll schedule on Sunday, Union home minister Amit Shah said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Assam will return to power with a record mandate in the upcoming assembly elections.

Shah, who was on a two-day visit to the state beginning Saturday, addressed a gathering of the BJP's youth workers in Guwahati. "Nearly 125,000 youths from 31,400 polling booths from across Assam are present in the meeting today... The outcome of any election can be gauged from the gathering of any party's youth workers," he said.

"The Maha Kumbh of youths in Guwahati today makes it clear that in the coming election the government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma ...