A Correspondent
TANGLA: With the Parliamentary election round the corner, political parties have started sounding the poll bugle. A strong contest is likely to be witnessed in the 8 No. Mangaldai Lok Sabha constituency where veteran BJP leader and sitting BJP parliamentarian is in his second term. The constituency, once considered stronghold of the Indian National Congress (INC), has lost it to the BJP since 2004.The Congress high command and grassroots party workers have already initiated strategies and poll preparations to grab the constituency back. As many as nine persons are in fray and have filled their papers for Congress candidature in the constituency. They are Dr. Dipankar Sahariah, Dr.Zoinath Sarmah, Madhab Rajbongshi, Rupa Rani Bhuyan, Pranjit Choudhury, Hemprabha Devi, Dijendra Nath Sarma, Deb Kumar Phukan and Saidur Rahman.
Out of the ten Assembly segments covering the constituency, only Dalgaon LAC is under Congress while Kamalpur LAC is under AGP and Nalbari, Rangia, Sipajhar and Mangaldai are under BJP and remaining four -Mazbat, Udalguri, Paneri and Kalaigaon - are under Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). The ball is in the court of the Congress high command to select the right candidate will be a great deciding factor for the party. The conscious voters are definitely looking for a change from the incumbent Parliamentarian and are in search of young, dynamic and transparent leadership.
The names of former bureaucrat Dr. Dipankar Sahariah, veteran politician Madhab Rajbongshi, politician and educationist Dr Zoinath Sarmah, former Youth Congress leader Pranjit Choudhury and teacher Rupa Rani Bhuyan are being highly anticipated. While Dr. Dipankar Sahariah, who resigned from the Assam Civil Service after 12 years of service, is the son of former Home Minister of the State, Ramesh Chandra Sahariah, and has been a known face among the people for his role in various welfare projects in his personal capacity in the region, veteran politician Madhab Rajbongshi unsuccessfully contested for four times from 1985 to 2006 in Sipajhar and Kalaigaon LACs. He also unsuccessfully contested the 2004, 2009 and 2014 parliamentary polls, twice from Congress and once from AGP.
Front-runner Assam Agitation leader Dr Zoinath Sarmah is a four-time legislator (from 1985 to 2001) from Sipajhar LAC. He has also served in cabinet portfolios. Later he unsuccessfully contested the 2006, 2011 and 2016 Assembly polls and later joined the INC.
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