Guwahati: The BJP released its first list of candidates for the Assam Assembly elections on Thursday. It includes 88 names, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Himanta will contest from his traditional seat of Jalukbari, his seventh time contesting from this seat. Former Congress President Bhupen Bora, who joined the BJP 25 days ago, has also been given a ticket. The BJP has nominated MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who left the Congress party a day earlier, from Dispur.
Meanwhile, following Pradyut Bordoloi’s joining the BJP, his son, Prateek Bordoloi, announced that he would not contest the assembly elections as a Congress candidate. In a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Prateek stated that it would no longer be appropriate for him to continue as a Congress candidate. “With full responsibility and respect, I am withdrawing my candidacy from the Margherita constituency. The people and Congress workers here should have clarity and confidence regarding the candidate,” he said. I will remain a member of the party and will fulfill whatever responsibility the leadership gives me.
Prateek was nominated by the Congress from Margherita constituency, from where his father has been an MLA four times. Voting for the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held on April 9. Counting of votes will take place on May 4. The BJP will contest 89 out of 126 seats. Of the remaining 37, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has been given 26 seats and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) 11 seats.
