Rajya Sabha vacancies

The Election Commission of India has announced that election to three Rajya Sabha seats from Assam, which are soon falling vacant, will be held on March 26 along with 52 other seats in 17 other states. While one of the three seats is being currently held by Biswajit Daimary of the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), the other two are being occupied by Congress leaders Bhubaneswar Kalita and Sanjay Singh, both of whom had resigned from their party and had joined the BJP last year. Going by the present effective strength of the Assam Assembly, each candidate will require the support of at least 33 MLAs to sail through. But then, going by the present party-wise strength in the Assembly, while the ruling BJP-AGP-BPF alliance will easily win the first two seats, the Opposition has a fair chance of bagging the third seat, provided it remains united. Going by past history, it will however not be a surprise that the BJP-led alliance wins the third seat too. The BJP-led alliance in Assam has a seat-sharing formula, according to which the BJP will field its candidate for the first seat and leave the second to the BPF. The AGP had already fulfilled its quota last year by sending Birendra Prasad Baishya. At this juncture, it will be interesting to watch which three persons are going to Rajya Sabha from Assam. Looking at the performance of the three outgoings, one must admit that though Bhubaneswar Kalita is a veteran politician who was once a close confidant of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, he has failed to make any significant contribution to the overall socio-economic development of the state. The case of Sanjay Singh was strange; he had suddenly descended in Assam, courtesy then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and was allowed to occupy a crucial Rajya Sabha seat from Assam which should have been ideally occupied by a local person. As far as Biswajit Daimary is concerned, he has emerged as the most vocal and visible Rajya Sabha member from Assam in recent times. Given the backdrop that a lot of issues related to Assam’s socio-economic development require to be properly and loudly placed in Parliament, it will be important that the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance sends such persons who are good in communication, understands the basic issues and problems of Assam and the region, and can get things done. The people of Assam have long remained deprived of good, bold, courageous, well-informed and capable representatives in Parliament.

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