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Assam recorded a general elections
voters’ turnout of 68
per cent, Arunachal 59
per cent, Meghalaya
BJP leadership maintained that it 68 per cent, Manipur constituency Biren Singh Ingti has also
would bring the bill again if voted to received party ticket where the elderly
power in New Delhi where the Congress 78.2 per cent, Mizoram politician will face BJP nominee Harens-
president Rahul Gandhi opted for con- 73 per cent, Nagaland ingh Bey, ASDC leader Holiram Terang,
tinue opposing the initiative. BJP presi- National People’s Party candidate Lien
dent Amit Shah, during one of his recent 74 per cent and Khochon etc. In Karimganj Lok Sabha
public meetings in Assam, reiterated seat, All India United Democratic Front
that his party was committed to grant Tripura 78 per cent in (AIUDF) representative Radheshyam
citizenship to those marginalized asylum first phase of LS polls Biswas will be challenged by BJP nomi-
seekers. nee and State Assembly deputy speaker
Once the issue is temporarily over, Sarma (Congress). A senior advocate of Kripanath Malla and Congress leader
the saffron party got hugs from the AGP the Supreme Court Upamanyu Hazarika Swarup Das with others.
leaders, who in January broke the alli- is also on the fray as an independent can- Interesting fights are waiting in
ance and three of its ministers in Sarba- didate, who is expecting supports from Tezpur Parliamentary constituency,
nanda Sonowal’s cabinet also resigned. conscious electorate of the fairly urban- where the Congress has nominated a
But soon after the CAB-lapse Atul Bora ized Lok Sabha constituency. former bureaucrat MGVK Bhanu against
(also AGP president), Keshab Mahanta Congress heavyweight and a Rajya BJP’s young State minister Pallab Lochan
and Phanibhusan Choudhury had re- Sabha member Bhubaneswar Kalita is Das. More candidates namely Ram Ba-
joined the BJP led government in Dispur fighting for Mangaldoi seat who faces hadur Sonar (NPP), Mahendra Bhuyan
and started functioning happily. challenges from young BJP nominee Dil- (NCP), Mahendra Orang (VPI) etc also re-
Though pretending to be comfort- ip Saikia. Similarly, a former Union min- main on the ground to divide votes in the
able externally, the BJP leadership has ister and Congress veteran Pawan Singh central Assam Parliamentary seat.
rejected nominations to five sitting MPs Ghatowar will be challenged by sitting Former State Congress minister
including a central minister. The resur- BJP Parliamentarian Rameswar Teli for Pradyut Bordoloi has been fielded from
gent party, which won seven Parliamen- the Dibrugarh seat in eastern Assam. Nagaon seat who would be challenged
tary seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Another sitting BJP MP Pradan Baru- by BJP legislator Rupak Sarma with few
Assam, decided to field young candidates ah is fighting for Lakhimpur seat, where other candidates. In Barpeta Lok Sabha
this time including two State ministers. he may face challenges from Anil Borgo- seat, the Congress nominee, also a leg-
Even though support bases were hain (Congress), Arup Pratim Borboruah islator, Abdul Khaleque will face Dipak
reportedly intact, Rajen Gohain, who Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bhu- Das of AGP, whereas the AIUDF presi-
served as the Railway’s junior minister in pan Narah (Voter’s Party International) dent and sitting MP Badruddin Ajmal
Narendra Modi’s Union cabinet, was de- etc. Sonowal won the seat in 2014 general will face another Congress legislator Abu
nied party tickets from (Nagaon or Now- elections as a BJP candidate and later re- Taher Bepari in Dhubri Parliamentary
gong) Parliamentary constituency. Simi- linquished after taking responsibilities as constituency.
larly Bijoya Chakraborty (Guwahati), RP the State chief minister. Elections in Assam and also many
Sarma (Tezpur), Ramen Deka (Mangal- Two young Congress sitting MPs parts of the region remain synonymous
doi) and Kamakhya Prasad Tassa (Jorhat) namely Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Dev with violence perpetrated by separatist
were also deprived from party tickets to have retained their party nominations. militant outfits who are fighting New
fight the elections. Gogoi, son of former Assam chief min- Delhi for decades demanding self-rule
BJP’s trusted ally BPF puts forward ister Tarun Gogoi, is understood to face to sovereignty. This time, both the fac-
Pramila Rani Brahma as the party nomi- stiff challenges from AGP nominee and a tions of United Liberation Front of Assam
nee for Kokrajhar Lok Sabha seat in west- student leader till few weeks back Mani (ULFA), have shown reluctance in inter-
ern Assam. The State minister is expected Madhab Mahnata in Koliabar Lok Sabha vening the polls. The pro-talk ULFA fac-
to showcase a good fight to the sitting MP seat. Similarly, Dev will be challenged by tion led by Arabinda Rajkhowa recently
Naba Sarania, who used to be a top leader Rajdeep Roy of BJP in Silchar seat. made it clear that they would never be
of Ulfa and fought the last general elec- Another former leader of All Assam a part of the electoral process. Similarly
tions as an independent candidate. The Students Union (AASU) and presently a the other faction led by Paresh Barua
list of candidates for the ST reserved seat minister in Sonowal’s cabinet Tapan Go- also maintained silence over their influ-
also includes Sabda Rabha (Congress) goi is fighting for Jorhat Lok Sabha seat ence in the electoral battles sweeping the
and UG Brahma (UPPL). with the BJP ticket. region.
Prestigious Guwahati Lok Sabha seat He is scheduled to face visible chal-
is anticipated to witness a spectacular lenges from popular Congress leader Su- The author is a political analyst based in
fight between two prominent ladies shanta Borgohain in the central Assam northeast India
namely Queen Ojha (BJP nominee and constituency.
a former Mayor of Guwahati) and Bobita Sitting Congress MP from Diphu letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 30 april 2019 35 www.Tehelka.com