Congress names 26 candidates for second phase of Assam polls

GUWAHATI:

The central election committee of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), on March 10, announced the names of 26 candidates for the second phase of the Assembly polls in Assam.

The list includes prominent names such as former state minister Siddeque Ahmed for Karimganj South constituency and incumbent legislator Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha for the Karimganj North seat in Barak Valley.

Among the other nominees in Barak Valley are Sambhu Sing Mallah (Ratabari), Sachin Sahoo (Patharkandi), Sanjeev Roy (Katlichera), Tamal Kanti Banik (Silchar), Kamakhya Prasad Mala (Dholai), Ajit Singh (Udharbond), Mukesh Pandey (Lakhipur), Misbahul Islam Laskar (Barkhola) and Khalil Uddin Majumdar (Katigora).

The list also includes Nirmal Langthasa (Haflong), Sanjeeb Teron (Howraghat), Augustine Enghee (Baithalangso), Kishor Kumar Bhattacharya (Kamalpur), Pradyut Kumar Bhuyan (Nalbari), Kuldip Barua (Sipajhar), Basanta Das (Mangaldoi), Md Ilias Ali (Dalgaon), Swapan Kumar Mandal (Jagiroad), Asif Mohd Nazar (Laharighat), Sashi Kanta Das (Raha), Santanu Sarma (Nowgong), Suresh Borah (Barhampur), Debabrata Saha (Hojai) and Swapan Kar (Lumding).

Meanwhile, resentment over the denial of party tickets continues to grow in the party.

Several Congress members in the Nowgong constituency staged a protest on Thursday morning after aspirant Durlav Chamua was denied a ticket to contest the polls.

The members threatened to quit the party if Chamua was not nominated in the next 12 hours, sources said.

Recently, hundreds of Congress workers from two western Assam constituencies had stormed the party headquarters (Rajiv Bhawan) to protest against the party’s decision to leave seats for alliance partner All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).

The party has already announced its nominees in 43 seats for the first two phases since last Saturday.

AIUDF list

Meanwhile, Grand Alliance partner AIUDF announced three names of candidates for the second and third phase polls in the state.

The party named Abdul Aziz for Badarpur and Jakir Hussain Laskar for Hailakandi in the second-phase Assembly polls on April 1.

Meanwhile, Samsul Huda will contest for the Bilasipara East seat, which is going to the polls in the third phase on April 6.

Also Read: BJP denies ticket to ‘controversial’ MLA Shiladitya Dev; announces list for 2nd phase Assam polls