GUWAHATI, Jan 29 � All the nomination papers filed for the election to the three Rajya Sabha seats from the State are found valid. State Assembly Secretary GP Das, who is also the Returning Officer of the Rajya Sabha elections, told this newspaper this afternoon that the nomination papers filed by Congress� Bhubaneswar Kalita and Sanjay Singh, Bodoland People�s Front�s Biswajit Daimary and Opposition�s common candidate Haidar Hussain were found valid during scrutiny of papers today.
January 31 has been fixed as the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers.
Haidar Hussain: Talking to this newspaper Haidar Hussain, who has been nominated by the Opposition camp as its common candidate for one of the three RS seats, said that as per value-based politics, there should not have been any contest for the three seats. The ruling coalition should have accepted the common candidate of the Opposition as a fait accompli. It should have refrained from fielding its third candidate.
Hussain said he was pressurised by a large number of people to offer his candidature for one of the seats of the Upper House of the Parliament, when the media report of Congress� fielding Sanjay Singh for one of the seats was confirmed. �There is a popular sentiment in the State against imposition of people like Sanjay Singh and many people from various places of the State pressurised me to oppose this trend by offering my candidature,� Hussain said.
He claimed that Sanjay Singh has been imposed on the State to ensure a smooth victory of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. I have offered my candidature to record my opposition to such impositions,� he said.
On his electoral prospects, Hussain said the discussions with the Opposition legislators and their leaders have made him and his supporters confident over his victory.
He informed that he was contacted by a joint delegation of the Asom Gana Parishad and the All India Democratic Front on Monday night. The Bharatiya Janata Party also talked to him over phone that night.
After consulting a large number of people, who included friends, well-wishers, his relations, family members, etc., he arrived at the decision to offer his candidature on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, Bodoland People�s Front (BPF) candidate Biswajit Daimary told this newspaper today that Congress is yet to inform his party formally that the All India Congress Committee has asked its legislators in the State to treat him as the third choice candidate. The BPF has come to know of this development from media reports only, Daimary said.
The initial understanding was that since two candidates would be safe for the Congress-BPF alliance, one of the Rajya Sabha seats would be given to the BPF, Daimary said.
