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AGP names Assam MP’s wife as candidate from Bongaigaon despite opposition
Bongaigaon is among the five assembly segments in the state where bypolls are scheduled to be held on November 13
GUWAHATI: The ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in Assam on Monday named Lok Sabha member Phani Bhushan Choudhury’s wife Diptimoyee Choudhury as its candidate for the Bongaigaon assembly bypoll despite opposition from a section of party leaders and workers,
Bongaigaon is among the five assembly segments in the state where bypolls are scheduled to be held on November 13
Choudhury, an eight-time MLA from Bongaigaon, has been winning the seat since 1985. He vacated the seat this year after winning the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat on an AGP ticket with the support of other National Democratic Alliance allies such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL).
This would be Diptimoyee Choudhury’s first electoral battle.
Monday’s decision comes days after 36 local AGP leaders and workers from Bongaigaon including district unit president Bijay Singha and general secretary Shailen Sarkar resigned from the party on Saturday against the move to allot the ticket to Diptimoyee.
The AGP promptly announced replacements for Singha and Sarkar.
Sarkar, who has announced his decision to contest the Bongaigaon bypoll as an Independent candidate, said the AGP should have given an opportunity to other party leaders to contest the assembly bypolls after Choudhury’s elevation.
“Phani Bhushan Choudhury has represented Bongaigaon in the state assembly for close to four decades. Now that he is in Lok Sabha, other leaders in the party should have been given a chance to contest for the seat. Instead, the party leadership gave the ticket to his wife, which is clearly an act of nepotism and harmful to AGP’s growth,” he said.
Five assembly seats, Behali, Bongaigaon, Dhalai, Sidli and Samaguri, which had become vacant following the election of the sitting MLAs to the Lok Sabha earlier this year, will vote on November 13. The results will be announced on November 23.
On Monday, UPPL named Nirmal Kumar Brahma as the NDA candidate from the Sidli assembly seat. UPPL’s Joyanta Basumatary, who was the MLA from Sidli, resigned from the seat after winning the Kokrajhar Lok Sabha seat.
On Saturday, the BJP announced the names of Nihar Ranjan Das, Diganta Ghatowar and Diplu Ranjan Sarma as its candidates for the Dhalai, Behali and Samaguri seats respectively. The Dhalai and Behali seats fell vacant after the BJP’s Parimal Suklabaidya and Ranjit Dutta resigned from the seats after winning the Cachar and Tezpur parliamentary seats respectively.
Congress’s Rakibul Hussain, a five-time legislator from Samaguri, stepped down after winning the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat.
