BJP, AGP nominees are elected unopposed

Guwahati: The BJP’s Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and AGP’s Birendra Prasad Baishya were declared elected unopposed for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Assam on Friday as Opposition Congress and AIUDF stayed away from contest.

As there were only two candidates in the fray for two seats, the election, which was schedule for June 7 was not necessitated.

Both the candidates received the winning certificates from the returning officer in Dispur.

The Congress didn’t project anyone for the seats. Even though the AIUDF had earlier floated the idea of putting up an apolitical candidate if the Congress agreed, both the opposition parties later decided not to field any candidate, apparently because they do not have the required numbers in the Legislative Assembly.

A former leader of the Assam Tea Tribes Students Association, 44-year-old Tasa was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from Jorhat. In the recently concluded elections to the 17th Lok Sabha, the BJP nominated Sonari MLA and former AASU leader Topon Kumar Gogoi from Jorhat and he emerged as the winner.

On the other hand, 63-year-old Baishya was a member of the 11th Lok Sabha from Mangaldai and a former union minister for steel and mines. In 2008, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha and had been a member of several Central government committees.

The elections to the two seats had necessitated because the terms of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Santiuse Kujur, both Rajya Sabha members of the Congress party from Assam, will end on June 14.