Resentment Brewing Among Rank & File in Assam Congress

GUWAHATI: Resentment is brewing among rank and file in the Assam Congress over the selection of certain candidates from some constituencies to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

The insiders in Congress said many in the party are an opinion that senior leaders have been sidelined in getting tickets from constituencies such as Tezpur and Lakhimpur. The Congress high-command has almost decided to give tickets to former bureaucrat MGVK Bhanu and Anil Borgohain to fight the elections from Tezpur and Lakhimpur constituencies respectively. Even though the Congress is yet to officially announce the names of Bhanu and Borgohain, many party workers have already opposed their candidatures.

The Congress has officially announced the names of Swarup Das, Gaurav Gogoi, Paban Singh Ghatowar, Sushmita Dev and Sushanta Borgohain as its candidates from Karimganj, Kaliabar, Dibrugarh, Silchar and Jorhat respectively.

There is also resentment over giving priority to candidates from the Ahom community by ignoring other ethnic communities.

Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters here on Monday that he did not ask the party to give tickets to MGVK Bhanu from Tezpur. “I asked the party to give the ticket to a senior leader from Tezpur,” Gogoi said, adding that he favored giving the ticket to Gayatri Handique from Jorhat instead of Sushanta Borgohain.

Many senior leaders and workers are also seriously concerned and unhappy over the party’s delay and dilemma in selecting a suitable candidate for an important constituency like Gauhati. Like Tezpur and Lakhimpur, the party has almost decided to give tickets to Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhubaneswar Kalita from Nagaon and Mangaldoi constituencies respectively.

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