Meeting Overview
On Sunday, the Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conducted a significant meeting to discuss the upcoming by-elections for three assembly seats. The meeting, led by state unit chief Bhabesh Kalita, included prominent figures such as Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, party in-charge Harish Dwivedi, and state organizational general secretary GR Ravindra Raju.
Candidate Selection Process
During the meeting held in Guwahati, the BJP’s election committee finalized a list of potential candidates for the Behali, Dhalai, and Samaguri assembly seats. Kalita stated, “We had detailed discussions on the by-election and finalized the list of likely candidates. Three names from each of these seats have been forwarded to the party’s parliamentary board, which will make the final decision on the candidates.”
Coalition Support
Kalita confirmed that the parliamentary board is expected to announce the selected candidates in the coming days. Additionally, the BJP has decided not to contest the Sidli and Bongaigaon seats. Instead, these will be contested by their coalition partners, the United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). In the 2021 assembly elections, the UPPL won the Sidli seat, while the AGP secured Bongaigaon.
Context of the By-Elections
Five assembly seats in Assam became vacant following the recent Lok Sabha polls. Two MLAs from the ruling BJP, including a cabinet minister, along with one each from alliance partners AGP and UPPL, and one from the opposition Congress, won Lok Sabha seats.
In the Lok Sabha elections, two BJP MLAs—Parimal Suklabaidya, who represented the Dhalai assembly segment, and Ranjit Dutta from Behali—secured victories in the Cachar and Tezpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively. Veteran AGP leader Phani Bhushan Choudhury, a long-time representative of the Bongaigaon assembly seat since 1985, won the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat. UPPL’s Joyanta Basumatary, the former Sidli MLA, also won the Kokrajhar seat. Congress’s Rakibul Hussain claimed the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat by a record margin, representing Samaguri.
