Theruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam, which on Friday announced itsfirst list of 70 candidates for the first two phases of Assembly elections inthe state, has given tickets to two former Congress ministers, 11 new faces andthree Muslim candidates.
FormerCongress ministers Ajanta Neog and Gautam Roy got BJP tickets to contest fromtheir old seats of Golaghat and Katighora, respectively. Neog and Gowala hadjoined the saffron party in December last year.
FormerCongress legislator Rajdeep Gowala, who was elected to the Assembly afterwinning in the 2016 elections from Lakhipur, has been denied a ticket by theBJP this time.
DeputySpeaker Aminul Haq Laskar, Kojrujaman Jinnah and Nazir Hussain are the threeMuslim candidates in the first list of 70 nominees. Laskar would contest fromhis old seat Sonai while Jinnah and Hussain would fight from Lahorighat andRupohihat, respectively.
BesidesNeog, Surabhi Rajkonwar from Sibsagar, Nandita Garlosa from Haflong (ST) andAngoorlata Deka from Batadrova are the other women candidates in the BJP firstlist.
Amongthe top BJP leaders, state unit chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass, who was earlierelected to the Assembly from Sorbhog, has been nominated to contest fromPatacharkuchi this time.
Seniorminister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Dass has been shifted toa new constituency following demand from the party workers.
The126-member Assam Assembly will go to the polls in three phases on March 27 (47seats), April 1 (39 seats) and April 6 (40 seats). The results will be declaredon May 2.
BJPnational General Secretary Arun Singh told the media that of the 126 seats inAssam, the saffron party would contest in 92 seats, giving 26 seats to the AsomGana Parishad (AGP) and 8 seats to the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL).
Sarma,the convener of the BJP-backed regional body Northeast Democratic Alliance(NEDA), said that one seat will be contested by the Rabha Joutho Mancha, butunder the BJP symbol.
Atotal of 11 sitting legislators have been dropped from the BJP first list, fromSilchar, Howraghat, Katigora, Diphu, Baithalangso, Lahowal, Bihpuria, Sonari,Nalbari, Halflong and Barkhola.
Inanother significant development, the AGP has dropped one of the foundingleaders of the party and former president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, a two-timeChief Minister who has been elected to the Assembly since 1985. BJP candidateJitu Goswami would contest from Mahanta's seat in Barhampur.
Accordingto party sources, Mahanta, who had opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, isnow in touch with some opposition parties.
Inanother turn of events, BJP leader from Golaghat, Bitupon Saikia, and youthleader Padmalochan Doley have joined the Congress in Assam, according to mediareports.
Thelatest development emerged on Friday evening when the BJP was finalising thelist of candidates in Delhi.
ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowal will contest from Majuli (ST), while Sarma has beenfielded from Jalukbari, constituencies from where they had won the last time.