Assam: Two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam will fall vacant on April 22 this year, when the terms of Congress MPs, Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora come to an end. Although hectic lobbying has already started in the opposition camps to secure at least one of the two seats, the parties have remained tightlipped over any developments regarding the issue.
The ruling BJP on the other hand is confident of winning both the Rajya Sabha seats and the party's reason is two-fold: The alliance has numbers to make its first candidate win, and lack of unity among the opposition parties is expected to turn the tables in its favour for the second candidate of the ruling dispensation.
Although members of the ruling party refused to speak on the issue, it is learned that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is planning to send the chief of the Bodoland Peoples' Party (BPF) and former Chief Executive Member of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Hagrama Mohilary to contest on one of the Rajya Sabha seats. The BPF has recently become a partner of the BJP-led ruling alliance in the Assam Legislative Assembly.
In the Congress camp, the name of former Union Minister and veteran tea tribes leader Paban Singh Ghatowar is doing the rounds for the Opposition's united candidate for the second Rajya Sabha seat. With a strength of 84 members in the House, the BJP-led alliance in Assam is sure to win one of the Rajya Sabha seats in the election, which is likely to be held in the month of March. While BJP has 65 members on its own in the House, its allies AGP, UPPL and BPF have nine, seven and three members in the House respectively.
The Congress camp, on the other hand, is banking on the unity of the Opposition parties in the Assembly to sail through for at least one of the Rajya Sabha seats. While the Congress has 27 members in the House on its own, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has 12 members in the House. While CMP has one member in the house, two other opposition parties Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Raijor Dal have one member each in the House.
"The BJP led alliance will win both the Rajya Sabha seats. We are confident. There is no unity among the Opposition now in Assam. Although Congress tried to have a Mahajot (Grand alliance) uniting all the Opposition parties ahead of last year's Assembly elections, it crumbled long back. So we are going to win both the seats this time," said BJP president Bhabesh Kalita. Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah on the other hand said that the party does not have the numbers to make its candidate win one of the seats. "However, we hope that all the anti-BJP legislators will support a consensus candidate," Borah said.
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