Assam bypolls: BJP’s ally AGP fields MP’s wife from Bongaigaon seat

Guwahati, Oct 21 (IANS) The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), an ally of the BJP in Assam, has announced the party candidate’s name for the upcoming bypolls in the state.

The AGP has named Diptimoy Choudhury, wife of Lok Sabha MP from Barpeta, Phani Bhusan Choudhury, as its candidate to contest the Assembly by-election in the Bongaigaon seat.

The AGP opened its account during the general elections this year after a long hiatus with its senior leader Phani Bhusan Choudhury being elected from the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat. The party contested in two parliamentary constituencies in the state, however, it lost polls in Dhubri to Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain.

Choudhury was a six-time MLA from the Bongaigaon Assembly segment. When AGP fielded him in the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat to fight parliamentary elections, supporters of Choudhury opposed the party’s decision and urged Choudhury to remain the MLA of Bongaigaon.

After the bypolls dates were announced, the name of Diptimoy Choudhury was doing the rounds for the AGP candidate in the Bongaigaon Assembly seat. However, some of the party leaders in the district unit of the AGP revolted against the decision while the district president also resigned from his post.

These developments caused the AGP leadership to delay the announcement of the name of Choudhury as the party candidate. However, according to sources, Phani Bhusan Choudhury was insistent on his wife getting a ticket for the Assembly bypolls and the top leaders decided to field Diptimoy Choudhury in Bongaigaon.

Meanwhile, the Barpeta Lok Sabha MP said that the people of Bongaigaon wanted his wife to contest the elections. “This is the only reason why she was chosen as a party candidate here,” he said.

Choudhury will take on the Congress party’s nominee Brajenjit Sinha in the Bongaigaon Assembly seat.

By-elections in five assembly constituencies—Dholai, Samaguri, Behali, Bongaigaon, and Sidli became imminent following the elections of five legislators in the lower house of the parliament in this year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Apart from Sinha, the Congress has given party tickets to Dhrubajyoti Purakayastha in Dholai, Sanjib Warle in the Sidli seat, and Tanzil Hussain in the Samaguri Assembly constituency.

The Dholai Assembly constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community and the Sidli seat is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST).

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