E-Paper
Ex-Union minister among BJP candidates shortlisted for 2 vacant Assam RS seats
BJP’s Assam unit chief Bhabesh Kalita said the names of 10 applicants for the two seats were sent to the central parliamentary committee for the final decision
A former Union minister and two ex-Lok Sabha members are among the 10 candidates shortlisted from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s nomination for two vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Assam. The BJP is expected to win the two seats given its strength in the state assembly. Elections to these seats are due along with 10 others across the country on September 3.
BJP’s Assam unit chief Bhabesh Kalita said the names of 10 applicants for the two seats were sent to the central parliamentary committee for the final decision following a state election panel meeting last week. “We hope to get confirmation on the two names within a day or two,” he said.
Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa’s victory in the Lok Sabha polls left the two Rajya Sabha seats vacant.
Rameshwar Teli (Dibrugarh), the former union minister who is on the shortlist, was denied the Lok Sabha ticket as Sonowal contested from Dibrugarh, Former members of Parliament Rajdeep Roy and Topon Gogoi, who lost the Lok Sabha seat to Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, are among the others shortlisted.
Congress’s Assam chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said they would not field any candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls. “We do not have the numbers to win the two seats and therefore there is no reason to put up candidates.”
