The Congress has stepped up its preparations for the Assam Assembly elections, releasing its fourth list of seven candidates and taking its total tally to 94 nominees. The party has also dropped a sitting MLA while finalising its candidates for the April 9 polls.
Trinamool announces first list
The Trinamool Congress has also entered the electoral race, announcing its first list of 17 candidates. State senior vice-president Dulu Ahmed will contest from Chamaria.
Other candidates include Udangsri Narzary (Kokrajhar), Mominur Islam (Bilasipara), Kaushik Ranjan Das (Abhayapuri), Kalyani Kalita (Bajali), Rajan Chouhan (Goreswar), Hare Krishna Deka (Mangaldai), Faziur Rahman Laskar (Katigorah) and Shahajahan Laskar (Sonai).
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In the current Assembly, the BJP holds 64 seats, while its allies AGP, UPPL and BPF together have 19 MLAs. In the opposition, Congress has 26 MLAs, AIUDF has 15 and CPI(M) has one, along with one Independent legislator.
Congress finalises candidates, drops MLA
The party replaced incumbent Titabor MLA Bhaskar Baruah with Pran Kurmi. It has also fielded Bidisha Neog against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Jalukbari.
Other candidates include Joy Prakash Das from Nowboicha, Rohit Pariga from Tangla, Gyandip Mohan from Mahmora, Jayanta Borah from Biswanath and Rahul Roy from Hailakandi.
The Congress, which is contesting the 126-member Assembly elections as part of a six-party alliance, has left 11 seats for its ally Raijor Dal. These include Manas, Dalgaon, Dhing, Kaliabor, Tezpur, Sissibargaon, Margherita, Digboi, Sibsagar, Mariani and Bokakhat.
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The party had earlier announced that it would leave 15 seats for its alliance partners, which include Raijor Dal, CPI(M), Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI (ML) Liberation and All Party Hill Leaders Conference.
Senior leaders already in the fray include state chief Gaurav Gogoi from Jorhat, Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia from Nazira and former PCC president Ripun Bora from Barchalla.
The elections for the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held on April 9, with counting scheduled for May 4.
