Assam Assembly Polls: BJP Releases First List of 70 Candidates

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will seek re-election from Majuli.

A meeting of BJP Central Election Committee is underway at party headquarters. Image used for representation.

(Photo: ANI)

Ahead of the Assam Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday, 5 March, announced its list of candidates, for 70 out of a total of 90 seats it is likely to contest.

From Majuli, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will seek to retain a seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates, and state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will also seek re-election from Jalukbari, from where he had won in the previous Assembly elections in 2016.

BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass will contest from Patacharkuchi, the list said. Dass had previously contested from Sorbhog and won.

Out of the 70 candidates in the list, four are women - Angoorlata Deka from Batadroba, Ajanta Neog from Golaghat, Surabhi Rajkonwar from Sibsagar, and Nandita Garlosa from Haflong, which is a constituency reserved for the ST category. Only one candidate is from the Muslim community.

Notably, the BJP denied tickets to 11 sitting MLAs. Announcing the names of candidates on Friday, BJP national General Secretary Arun Singh said that the party has also given tickets to 11 new faces.

Alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad will contest in 26 seats, while another ally United People’s Party Liberal will be fighting for eight seats.

Gana Suraksha Party, another ally, has been allotted one seat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP president J P Nadda held meetings over the course of two days to decide the seat-sharing between the BJP and its allies.

The Assam Assembly, consisting of 126 members, will hold elections in three phases starting from 27 March. The results will be declared on 2 May.