NEW DELHI, March 21 - The Congress has decided to put its weight behind old warhorses in the second phase of the Assembly election, with the party dropping only three sitting MLAs, including former minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman, Capt Robin Bordoloi and Hemanta Talukdar.
The 57-member second list of the Congress party bearing names of 57 candidates was released by the AICC here this afternoon strategically after the voting for the Rajya Sabha polls got over.
While technically Dr Bhumidhar Barman opted out of the contest, his son Diganta Barman has been nominated in his place from Barkhetri LAC. In all, 13 MLAs have been renominated in the second phase in the fight for lower Assam, which was otherwise mostly dominated by the AIUDF MLAs.
The surprise exclusion was Congress MLA Capt Robin Bordoloi from Guwahati East from where the party has fielded a new face Bobbeeta Sarma. Another new face Juri Sarmah Bordoloi replaces Talukdar, a two-time MLA of the party from the Guwahati West constituency.
The sitting MLAs, who were renominated included Chandan Kumar Sarkar (Abhyapuri South-SC), Sibchandran Basumatary (Dudhnai-ST), Sukur Ali Ahmed (Chenga), Rekibuddin Ahmed (Chaygaon), Akon Bora (Dispur), Ghanshyam Kalita (Rangiya), Nilamani Sen Deka (Dharmapur), Basanta Das (Mangaldai-SC), Md Ilias Ali (Dalgaon), Bibekananda Dalai (Jagiroad-SC), Jonjonali Baruah (Marigaon), Dr Nazrul Islam (Laharighar), Gautam Bora (Batadroba), Dr Durlav Chamua (Nowgong), Rakibul Hussain (Samaguri) and Dr Ardhendu Dey (Hojai).
In the second phase, the Congress has also fielded highest number of 19 candidates belonging to the Muslim community. The party has also fielded five women candidates. Dr Zoii Nath Sarmah, who recently joined the party, has been nominated from Sipajhar LAC along with newcomers Sankar Prasad Roy from Bongaigaon and Biswajit Ray from Bijni.
The other candidates of the party for the second phase of polls are Dr Motiur Rahman Mandal (Mankachar), Wazed Ali Choudhury (Salmara South), Abedul Zaman (Dhubri), Sushil Kumar Roy (Gauripur), Abdus Sobhan Ali Sarkar (Golakganj), Sabana Akhtar (Bilasipara West), Amrit Badsha (Bilasipara East), Ashim Hasda (Gossaigaon), Abdul Hai Nagori (Abhayapuri North), Abdul Kalam Rashid Alam (Goalpara East), Md Abdur Rashid Mandal (Goalpara West), Abdul Fazal Nasiruddin Mollah (Jaleswar), Anurupa Hannan (Sorbhog), Rajib Das (Bhabanipur), Sailen Kalita (Patacharkuchi), Abdur Rahim Ahmed (Barpeta), Abdul Khaleque (Jania), Sherman Ali Ahmed (Baghbar), Zakir Hussain Sikdar (Sarukhetri), Nandita Das (Boko-SC), Nabajyoti Talukdar (Palasbari), Niren Deka (Jalukbari), Dulu Ahmed (Hajo), Pranjit Choudhury (Kamalpur), Rabindra Biswas (Tamulpur), Pradyut Kumar Bhuyan (Nalbari), Tulashi Manas Rabha (Barama-ST), Indrajit Kumar Saikia (Kalaigaon), Sashi Kanta Das (Raha-SC), Anowar Hussain (Dhing), Md Nurul Huda (Rupohihat), Suresh Borah (Barhampur), Bindu Ganju (Kaliabor), Alhaj Bashir Uddin Laskar (Jamunamukh), and Netra Ranjan Mahanta (Lumding).
