Cong names four candidates for bypolls amid tension over seat deal with allies

Guwahati: Congress on Sunday announced the names of candidates for four assembly seats — Bongaigaon, Sidli, Dholai and Samaguri — where byelection will be held next month.

The Congress was grappling with pressure to relinquish additional seats to garner support from anti-BJP parties.

Among the five constituencies of Assam where byelection is due, the CPI-ML is set to get Behali seat in northern Assam, where a substantial number of voters belong to tea tribes.

Congress has nominated Dhrubajyoti Purakayastha from Dholai, Sanjib Warle from Sidli, Brajenjit Sinha from Bongaigaon and Tanzil Hussain from Samaguri.

Sinha is a retired IPS officer, whereas Tanzil is a NSUI leader and the son of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain.

However, the grand old party is facing threats from its workers and local-level leaders, particularly from Behali, to not concede the seat to the Left.

While maintaining that CPI-ML was an important member of the opposition forum, Asom Sonmilito Morcha (ASOM), they argued that the Left party has no prospect of winning at Behali, with Bibek Das, who had suffered a resounding defeat during the 2021 assembly polls, seeking a ticket to contest again.

According to a Congress insider, “Regional allies pose no hurdles, but the CPI-ML remains adamant regarding Behali."

Simultaneously, the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), spearheaded by Hagrama Mohilary, was vying for the Sildi seat in the Bodo-inhabited BTR, with the objective of curtailing the sway of the BJP and its allies. The BPF, which had previously aligned with the Congress, was willing to join forces with the grand old party again.

BPF leader and MLA Durga Das Boro had said, “During the last assembly polls we lost by a margin of less than 3,000 votes in Sildi. One particular community did not vote for us. Since then, we have made inroads into all communities. However, if the Congress does not field a candidate, our victory will be assured.”

Meanwhile, ASOM general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi indicated that, barring Behali, a consensus had been reached regarding four other seats where the bypolls will be held.

“Our target is the 2026 assembly polls. Our opinion, for the sake of unity, was that Behali should be relinquished to the CPI-ML,” said Gogoi. He said that a five-member committee of the opposition parties had expressed an opinion in favour of Das.

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