Assam bypolls: Congress names former BJP leader Jayanta Bora as candidate amid fissures in Opposition unity

The announcement comes amid a major row in the 16-party Opposition alliance in the State, Asom Sonmilito Morcha, over that seat

The Congress has named former BJP leader Jayanta Bora, who is yet to formally join the Opposition party, as its candidate for the byelection to the Behali seat in Assam.

Mr. Bora recently resigned from the BJP after being denied party ticket and is likely to join the Congress later on Thursday (October 24, 2024). A statement issued by All India Congress Committee(AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal on Wednesday (October 23, 2024) named Mr. Bora as the party's official candidate for the Behali constituency.

The announcement comes amid a major row in the 16-party Opposition alliance in the State, Asom Sonmilito Morcha (ASOM), over that seat. According to understanding in the ASOM, four of the five seats going to bypolls were to be contested by the Congress and Behali would go to CPI(ML) Liberation.

However, a section of local Congress leaders in Biswanath district opposed the decision and wanted to have their own candidate. They had sought Dilip Kumar Baruah or Premlal Ganju as the party's nominee. A five-member committee formed by the Opposition bloc had refused to reconsider the decision to field a CPI(ML)L candidate from Behali and demanded immediate confirmation from the AICC.

State Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah had on Tuesday night (October 22, 2024) resigned as the president of ASOM expressing "tremendous pressure" after the Congress high command refused to accept the united Opposition's nominee Bibek Das of the CPI(ML)L.

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Several Congress leaders confirmed to PTI that party MP Gaurav Gogoi was in favour of giving the Behali ticket to Jayanta Bora. Bypoll will take place on November 13 in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri Assembly constituencies as these seats fell vacant with the representatives of these seats winning the recent Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress will field Tanzil Hussain from Samaguri, Dhrubajyoti Purakayastha from Dholai, Sanjib Warle from Sidli and Brajenjit Sinha from Bongaigaon. The BJP-AGP-UPPL combine had held four of the constituencies that are going for the by-polls, while one was held by Congress.

Published - October 24, 2024 12:02 pm IST