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Cong, AIUDF RS nominees announced

By STAFF Reporter

GUWAHATI, May 18 � Congress has named Santiuse Kujur, a popular youth leader of the Adivasi community, as its nominee for the second seat of the Rajya Sabha, while the AIUDF has nominated Aminul Islam. Elections to both the Rajya Sabha seats, being vacated by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Kumar Deepak Das for expiry of their terms and belonging to the State, are scheduled for May 30.

Prime Minister Singh has already filed nomination

papers for one of the Upper House seats as a Congress nominee. The last date for filing nomination for the purpose is May 20.

Congress sources said Kujur, belonging to the Oraon sub-community, who has earned fame as a social leader, is a member of the executive council of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). He was elected to the BTC executive council as an MLC on two occasions in 2005 and 2010 from Paneri. He is the leader of the BTC Congress Legislature Party, said the sources.

Born on October 26, 1973, Kujur, who hails from Khoka Basti of Harisinga area in Udalguri district, is a graduate with economics as his major subject. A Christian by religion, Kujur lost the 2011 Assembly election to the State Assembly from the Paneri Legislative Assembly Constituency by a margin of 546 votes. He is now a resident of Tangla town, sources said.

Meanwhile, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) declared Aminul Islam as its candidate for one of the two Rajya Sabha seats.

AIUDF president and Lok Sabha MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal said he is confident about the victory of his party candidate. �We appeal to all the parties to support our candidate. We have formed a group under our party�s working president Dr Aditya Langthasa. It will work to secure the support of other parties,� Ajmal said, while announcing Islam�s candidature at a press conference at the party�s headquarters here.

Asked about the party�s strategy for the polls as it has only 18 MLAs in the Assembly, he said, �Yeh aandar ki baat hain (It is a secret). Insallah, our candidate will win� We will request Congress not to put up a candidate for the second seat.�

He also said that while AIUDF has ideological differences with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it will appeal to all parties to support Islam�s candidature.

He refused to be drawn into a question regarding any �tactical arrangement� with the Congress� dissident MLAs simply describing dissidence to be �an internal matter of the ruling party.�

Significantly, Ajmal maintained that his party is for Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh�s winning the Rajya Sabha election unopposed. �We respect Dr Singh and we want him elected unopposed. However, for the second seat we will fight till the last,� Ajmal said.

In the 126-member Legislative Assembly, the ruling Congress has 79 seats and is looking to win both the Rajya Sabha berths this time. AIUDF is the largest opposition party with 18 MLAs, Bodoland Peoples Front, which is a partner of the ruling alliance, has 12 MLAs, AGP has 9, BJP 5, two Independents and Trinamool Congress has one.

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