Guwahati: In a move that has dampened the mood of party workers, the BJP on Thu-rsday dropped three sitting MPs from its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Assam.
The party named candidates for eight of the 14 seats in Assam while keeping the names of candidates for two constituencies, Nagaon and Tezpur, on hold.
In what has surprised the party workers most, the party has nominated former mayor Queen Ojha as the candidate for Guwahati, which is considered one of the state’s toughest battlegrounds with its diverse voter base. She has replaced former Union minister Bijoya Chakraborty, who has represented the seat thrice since 1999.
The Opposition Congress, after a prolonged scanning of candidates, has selected Bolin Bordoloi, a long-time corporate tea executive and son of Gopinath Bordoloi, who does not carry any baggage.
The Congress had a tough time zeroing in on the candidate for the Guwahati seat and wanted a sophisticated one with no baggage to represent the most prestigious seat of the region. Mr Bordoloi was also kidnapped by outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in the nineties.
The BJP has nominated general secretary of its Assam unit, Dilip Saikia, in place MP Ramen Deka in the Mangaldoi seat where the Congress has fielded its heavyweight leader Bhubaneswar Kalita.
Assam power minister and former AASU leader Tapan Gogoi has been given nomination in place of sitting MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa in Jorhat.
Two sitting MPs, Dibrugarh MP Rameshwar Teli and Lakhimpur MP Pradan Baruah, have been re-nominated from their respective constituencies with the BJP looking at an improved showing in the Northeast.
In their first reaction on the selection of candidates, Congress leaders said that change of candidates was a confession by the BJP leadership that their sitting MPs failed to perform.
Soon after the list was announced, celebrations started at the residence of Guwahati candidate Ms Ojha as women members of the BJP gathered arou-nd to congratulate her.
“I am extremely happy, but this happiness comes with a lot of responsibility. I am overwhelmed by the support of party members and well-wishers. I am confident of winning,” she said.
When I was the mayor here, people had welcomed me with open arms and have since kept faith in my work,” said Ms Ojha,
Mr Teli, who has been re-nominated from Dibrugarh and filed his nomination paper on Friday said that he was confident for his re-nomination.
Expressing confidence that he would retain his seat by defeating former Union minister and Congress candidate Pawan Singh Ghatowar, Mr Teli said, “Last time, I won by a margin of 1.85 lakh votes. I had the support of 13 lakh voters of Dibrugarh, and I am sure they will vote for me for a second time. We have introduced a lot of schemes for the tea tribes.”
It is significant that Mr Teli belongs to the tea tribe community, which accounts for 34.26 per cent of the total population of Dibrugarh.
The BJP ignored several senior party leaders to nominate Horensing Bey from Diphu Autonomous District council area of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts.
BJP leader Rajdeep Roy, who has been nominated from Silchar, said that the people should understand Congress’ game plan over the Citizenship Bill. “We have maintained our stand on the CAB — what we said in Delhi is also what we reiterated in Assam,” said Mr Roy, who is pitted against All India Mahila Congress president and Silchar MP Sushmita Dev.
Deputy speaker Kripanath Malla, who will fight from Karimganj, maintains that chances of victory in his constituency are higher for the BJP. “Since the past three months, I have been in my constituency and working hard. People have ensured all support and I am sure of winning from Karimganj,” he said while asserting that he was confident to snatch the reserved seat from the AIUDF.
