Delimitation Redraws Hailakandi Politics: BJP Ticket Fight Takes Centre Stage

Hailakandi: The political equation of the Hailakandi Assembly constituency has undergone a significant transformation following the delimitation of constituencies, dramatically altering the electoral outlook ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Once considered a minority-dominated seat, Hailakandi has now emerged as a Hindu-majority constituency, reshaping party strategies and electoral expectations.

As per the political estimates, the current count of the Hindu voters in the constituency surpasses the count of the minority Muslim voters by some 75,000 voters. Due to this reason, the scales have definitely tipped in favour of the ruling political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is believed that the BJP stands with an edge over its rivals to win the seat.

With the BJP’s victory being considered almost assured, the next question in Indian politics has changed from whether the BJP will win to which candidates are likely to be given the party ticket. A number of leaders have already expressed their interest.

Some of the main contenders include: Dr Milon Das, a youth leader, Moon Swarnakar, the vice-president of the BJP in the state, and Kalyan Goswami, the BJP president in the Hailakandi district of the state. However, both Dr Milon Das as well as Moon Swarnakar had contested the assembly election in the year 2021 as a BJP party candidate but were defeated.

Although district president Kalyan Goswami is reportedly preferred by a section of senior state leaders, the BJP’s organisational rules do not allow a sitting district president to seek an Assembly ticket. Therefore, he would have to resign from his post before contesting, which he has not done so far.

Meanwhile, the name making rounds in the political circles is that of Shekhar Deb, known to have moved ahead in the ticket queue. This journalist-turned-politician has worked as Officer on Special Duty to former CM Sarbananda Sonowal in the Barak Valley since 2016. Later, he became the Officer on Special Duty to the Governor of Jharkhand in the term of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Political observers feel that Deb’s immediate proximity to the top leaders of the BJP is adding muscle to his claim, which is causing concern for other aspirants. Other names doing the rounds are those of Soikat Dutta Choudhury, a BJP member with a known profile, which has come to the fore recently, and Swapan Bhattacharya, a former district president with a clean image in politics.

Contrary to this, the Indian National Congress seems to be virtually sidelined. The Congress is yet to finalise a strong candidate. Initially, Rahul Roy, who is the son of former minister Gautam Roy, was rumoured. However, with Rahul Roy not joining the Congress so far, there is an increasing perception that he may not contest the polls altogether. Sources attribute this not only to his changed plans but also to a lack of interest within his party ranks owing to the changing demographics.

With changing demographic equations and the BJP’s organisational strength, the BJP sits comfortably in the electoral scenario, the Hailakandi politics now rest relatively sidelined with an internal party clash for the three BJP memberships. Overall, the battle for the Hailakandi Assembly constituency has now been reduced to an internal ticket fight within the BJP. The political circles of the district are keenly watching to see who will ultimately be chosen as the party’s candidate.

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