Tough fight likely between Congress and BJP in Jorhat

From a Correspondent

JORHAT, Jan 28: Nomition submission for the Jorhat Municipal Board elections concluded on Wednesday with candidates from both the Congress as well as the BJP filling their candidature for all the 19 Jorhat Municipality seats of the city before the Jorhat Additiol Deputy Commissioner and magistrate in–charge of polls, Bubul Lekharu. Elections to the Municipal Board will be held on February 9 once the scrutiny is completed on January 31. Though posters and banners are yet to be seen around the town, door–to–door campaign by both the parties has already begun. With the AGP announcing candidates only in 10 seats and five independent candidates, the ensuing elections is speculated to be a tough fight between the two political arch rivals.

This year all eyes are set on the outcome of the civic polls as the Jorhat Municipal Board has been in under the control of the Congress since the past 10 years. Jorhat is also the home district of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and former Union Minister Bijoy Krish Handique.

The BJP, after showing exemplary results in the last parliamentary elections, has fielded 11 female candidates out of the total 19 seats of which 9 were reserved for woman. Prominent among them are Aru Dutta, Junu Bora, Tumpa Mondol, Aloya Ghosh, Kamala Kundu, Jaya Das, Mrilini Barua, Pratibha Saikia, Rita Moni Kalita, Babli Dhar and Suravi Das in wards no 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19. Male candidates include Pranjit Kr Das, Ankur Gupta, Praveer Saikia, Bidyut Kr Phukan, Jayanta Borkotoky, Paban Bordoloi, Abani Saikia and Anup Ghosh Dastidaar.

 Meanwhile, the Congress has fielded 10 woman candidates mely Arifa Zaman, Lily Bora, Sandhya Rani Das Thakur, Fateema Begum, Seema Chakraborty, Anju Shrutikar, Anja Goswami, Abha Sarmah, Seela Roy and Ritupar Khargaria Das in wards no 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19. Also in fray is six times winner Jitendra th Bora from ward no 9 on a Congress ticket and the former chairman of the last dissolved Jorhat Municipal Board, Prasanta Kumar Bora from ward no 8.