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Parties gear up for by-polls in Assam
Assam’s Mariani, Thowra, Gossaigaon, Tamulpur, and Bhabanipur are among the seats where assembly by-polls will be held on October 30
Assam’s Mariani, Thowra, Gossaigaon, Tamulpur, and Bhabanipur are among the seats where assembly by-polls will be held on October 30. The by-polls in the state are being held six months after the assembly elections in March-April. Gossaigaon and Tamulpur fell vacant after the lawmakers representing them died of Covid-19. By-polls were necessitated in Mariani, and Thowra as Congress representatives resigned to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The All-India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) lawmaker vacated the Bhabanipur seat to join the BJP. The Majuli seat, which former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal represented, is also vacant. But it will go to by-polls later as Sonowal, now a Rajya Sabha member, resigned from the seat after the by-polls schedule was announced.
BJP’s Assam chief Bhabesh Kalita said they will hold a meeting on Saturday to discuss the by-polls and plan to contest all five seats along with their allies. He added the BJP could contest four seats and leave one seat for its alliance partner even as the final decision is yet to be taken. “For this round of elections, AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) would not be fielding any candidate. ...we are confident of winning all five seats.”
The BJP won 60 seats in this year’s assembly polls, while allies AGP got 9 and United Peoples’ Party Liberal 6 in the 126-member House. The Congress managed to win 29 seats, AIUDF 16 and Bodoland Peoples Front 4. This Congress-led Grand Alliance has since disintegrated as the BJP has emerged stronger.
State Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said they were scheduled to have a meeting on Friday to discuss the by-polls. “We have received 48 applications to date for the five seats. The list of candidates would be announced within the next few days.” He called defections an unhealthy trend and asked voters to teach a lesson to defectors. “We are hopeful of retaining both seats that we lost and even gain some more.”
The Congress is likely to contest four of the seats and leave one for Asom Jatiya Parishad whose chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi is expected to contest from Mariani.
AIUDF leader Md Aminul Islam said they will field candidates for Bhabanipur and Gossaigaon seats. “We have won Bhabanipur three times in a row and will win it again,” he said. “In Gossaigaon, the common opposition candidate had won. Our party emerged as the second-largest party in three elections prior to the last assembly polls. We are confident about this seat too.”
Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal will contest two of the five seats. It has named its candidate for the Thowra seat and is also planning to field a candidate from Mariani.
