NEW DELHI, March 22 - The long wait for nomination for BJP ticket-seekers in Assam was over on Thursday after the saffron party formally announced its first list of candidates for 184 Lok Sabha seats, including eight in the State.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday evening, Union minister JP Nadda said that the BJP had dropped five sitting MPs, retaining only Pradan Baruah (Lakhimpur) and Rameswar Teli (Dibrugarh). Nadda said that Kripanath Mallah has been nominated for the Karimganj seat, Dr Rajdeep Roy for Silchar, Queen Oja for Guwahati, Dilip Saikia for Mangaldai and Topon Gogoi for the Jorhat seat.
However, the BJP has kept the nomination for the Tezpur and Nagaon seats pending, keeping alive hopes for RP Sharma and Union minister Rajen Gohain. Sharma had earlier resigned from the primary membership of the party, while Gohain had opted out of the race, citing the criminal case pending against him in court.
The BJP parliamentary board, which will meet tomorrow, is likely to take up the Nagaon and Tezpur seats, party sources said.
In neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao has been nominated for the Arunachal (East) seat and Union Minister of State Kiren Rijiju for the Arunachal (West) constituency.
Meanwhile, Bobbeeta Sarma is likely to be the Congress candidate for the Guwahati Lok Sabha seat. The central election committee of the Congress will finalise candidates for the Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Barpeta seats ahead of the third phase of the polls.
Sources said that AIUDF supremo Badruddin Ajmal had approached the AICC high command to work out a seat-sharing arrangement with his party. The State Congress leadership has opposed the proposal as it feels that Ajmal�s ploy may indirectly help the BJP, as he has announced his decision to put up candidates in at least eight seats � all Congress strongholds � to split the Muslim votes.
Meanwhile, in an apparent bid to placate State minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was denied the Tezpur Lok Sabha seat, BJP national president Amit Shah tweeted that the Assam state election committee had recommended Sarma�s name to contest a Lok Sabha seat. However, Sarma, also the NEDA chairman, has been given the responsibility of development of the North East and and strengthening of the party in the region. �I hope that the party workers of Assam and the North East accept the decision of the central leadership. I am confident that he will take Assam and the entire North East towards the path of development,� Shah tweeted.
In a return tweet, Sarma addressing Amit Shah expressed his gratitude for reposing trust and faith in him.
