Diptimoyee Choudhury has been fielded from Bongaigaon.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: Wife of a Lok Sabha member belonging to ruling BJP's ally, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and son of Opposition Congress MP Rakibul Hussain are among the candidates fielded for bypolls to five Assembly constituencies in Assam despite protests by workers of the two parties.
Bypolls, scheduled for November 13, are seen as a test of the mood of the voters ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in early 2026.
The seats, Behali, Dhalai, Bogaigaon, Sidli and Samaguri, fell vacant after the MLAs representing the constituencies were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Despite resignations by at least 36 local leaders, AGP on Monday named Diptimoyee Choudhury, wife of Barpeta Lok Sabha member, Phani Bhushan Choudhury for bypolls in Bongaigaon Assembly seats. Phani Bhushan, the veteran AGP leader and eight-time MLA from Bongaigaon, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Barpeta Lok Sabha seat as the BJP-AGP-UPPL candidate.
"I was reluctant but agreed to contest the polls as party workers insisted repeatedly," Diptimoyee told television journalists after AGP named her as the candidate for Bongaigaon. This will be Diptimoyee's first election. The president and general secretary of AGP's Bongaigaon district unit were among the 36 party workers, who resigned opposing the party's move to field wife of a veteran leader.
Congress on Sunday named young Tanzil Hussain, son of Lok Sabha member Rakibul Hussain from Samaguri seat. Rakibul, the five-time MLA from Samaguri, stepped down after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Dhubri. Several Congress workers in Nagaon district expressed displeasure over fielding Tanzil saying it was a move to encourage dynastic politics.
Congress named Dhrubajyoti Purakayastha for Dholai, Sajib Warle (Sidli), Brajenjit Sinha (Bongaigaon) and Tanzil Hussain (Samaguri). The party is likely to give the Behali seat to the united forum of the Opposition parties led by Congress. Decision regarding the candidate is yet to be made public.
BJP fielded Nihar Ranjan Das, Diganta Ghatowar and Diplu Ranjan Sarma for the Dhalai, Behali and Samaguri seats, respectively. The Dhalai and Behali seats fell vacant after the BJP’s Parimal Suklabaidya and Ranjit Dutta were elected to the Lok Sabha from Cachar and Tezpur, respectively and resigned. The BJP and AGP would support Nirmal Kumar Brahma of UPPL, another ally of the BJP-led government in Assam, as the candidate for the Sidli seat. Sidli legislator Jayanta Basumatary (UPPL) was elected from Kokrajhar Lok Sabha seat.
The results are scheduled to be announced on November 23.