Guwahati, March 15: Gaurav Gogoi on March 15 said the Indian National Congress is preparing for the upcoming Assam Legislative Assembly elections and has finalised candidates as well as seat-sharing arrangements with alliance partners.
Speaking to reporters, Gogoi said the party has released its second list of candidates while allocating several constituencies to allies.
“In view of the Assam Legislative Assembly elections, the Congress Party has announced the second list for 23 seats. Along with this, we have also announced seats for our alliance partners, various regions, and national left-wing parties on 15 seats,” he said.
The party released the second list on March 14, naming 23 candidates and taking the total number of declared nominees to 65 out of the 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam.
The Congress has also fielded Gogoi, a three-time Member of Parliament, from the Jorhat constituency.
Fifteen constituencies have been kept for alliance partners, including Bhawanipur-Sorbhog, Bajali, Palasbari, Guwahati Central, Goreswar, Morigaon and Barhampur.
Among the newly announced candidates, former MP Abdul Khaleque will contest from Mandia. Kartik Chandra Ray has been nominated from Golakganj, Wazed Ali Choudhury from Birsing Jarua, Amrit Badsha from Bilasipara and Mohibur Rohman from Mankachar.
Other candidates include Abul Kalam Rasheed Alam from Goalpara East, Kishor Kumar Brahma from Dudhnoi, Nurul Islam from Srijangram, Rakibuddin Ahmed from Chamaria and Pranjit Choudhury from Rangia.
Kishore Kumar Baruah will contest from Dimoria, while Santanu Borah has been named from New Guwahati. Rijumoni Talukdar will contest from Mangaldai, Jhilli Choudhury from Hojai, Batash Urang from Dhekiajuli and Kartik Chandra Kurmi from Rangapara.
The list also includes Dr Sankar Jyoti Kutum from Gohpur, Sailen Sonowal from Dhemaji, Devid Phukan from Tinsukia, Bipul Gogoi from Tingkhong, Sagorika Bora from Dergaon and Dhrubjyoti Purkayastha from Dholai. Aminur Rashid Choudhury has been nominated from Karimganj South.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party — along with Asom Gana Parishad and United People’s Party Liberal — secured 75 seats, with the BJP emerging as the largest partner with 60 seats.
Voter turnout in the 2021 polls stood at 86.2 per cent, with more than 2.2 crore registered voters participating.
Earlier, in the 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP won 60 seats while the Congress secured 26 seats. The All India United Democratic Front won 13 seats, with voter turnout recorded at 83.9 per cent across the state’s 126 constituencies.
