Assam Elections: Congress Releases List of 42 Candidates, Gaurav Gogoi to Contest from Jorhat
Congress has released its first list of 42 candidates for the Assam elections. Gaurav Gogoi will contest from Jorhat. Elections for the 126-member Assam Assembly are likely to be held in March-April.
Assam Elections: Congress has released its first list of 42 candidates for the Assam elections. Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and MP from Jorhat, will contest from the Jorhat Assembly seat. Abhijit Paul has been nominated from Silchar, Indranil Pegu from Majuli, and Meera Borthakur Goswami from Dispur. Ripun Bora will contest from Barchalla. Elections for the 126-member Assam Assembly are likely to be held in March-April. The Election Commission (ECI) is expected to announce the schedule for the Assam Assembly elections any day now.
The Congress Party's Central Election Committee has selected candidates for several reserved and general seats in various constituencies across Upper Assam, Lower Assam, and Barak Valley. Several sitting MLAs have also been included in the first list. Prominent candidates include Girish Barua from Bongaigaon, Mahananda Sarkar from Barpeta (SC), and Ramen Singh Rabha from Boko-Chaygaon (SC). Nandita Das has been fielded from Hajo-Sualkuchi (SC), while Satyabrata Kalita will contest from Kamalpur.
The Congress has nominated Diganta Barman from Barkhetri, Ashok Kumar Sarma from Nalbari, and Ratul Patuwari from Tihu. In Central and Upper Assam, the party has nominated Binanda Kumar Saikia from Sipajhar, Bubul Das from Jagiroad (SC), Nurul Hoda from Rupahihat, Tanzil Hussain from Samaguri, and Utpal Bania from Raha (SC). The main opposition party, Congress, is quite confident about its chances of victory in the 42 seats it has announced candidates for.
Summary
The BJP has 64 members in the current assembly, while its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the United People's Party (Liberal) have 9, the United People's Party (Liberal) have 7, and the Bodoland People's Front have 3. The opposition comprises 26 MLAs from the Congress, 15 from the AIUDF, and 1 from the CPI(M).
There is also one independent MLA. In the 2021 Assam Assembly elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) retained power with 75 seats, marking the first consecutive victory for a non-Congress alliance in the state. The Congress-led Mahajot alliance won 50 seats, an increase from its 26 in 2016.
