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Faruqui, Condpan, Baruah in RS poll fray

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 16 � In all, three candidates today filed their nomination papers for the March 26 elections to the two Rajya Sabha seats from the State. Two of them � Silvius Condpan and Najnin Faruqui � belong to the ruling Congress. The Opposition parties fielded city-based Assamese daily Asomiya Pratidin�s owner Jayanta Baruah as their common candidate.

The candidature of Faruqui was decided yesterday by the Congress High Command. But today the candidature of Condpan came as a surprise. Even yesterday afternoon, while talking to the media persons after presenting the State Budget, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had said that his party would field only one candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections.

Observers here attribute the latest development to some clandestine understanding between the Congress and some members of some of the Opposition parties. The Opposition parties also needed to wait till the last hour of the schedule today to file Baruah�s nomination papers. Moreover, AGP MLA Abdul Aziz was found vocal against the decision of his party to file Jayanta Baruah.

However, the members of the three major partners �AGP, BJP and the AIDUF of the Opposition�s exercise to field a common candidate � were present during Jayanta Barua�s filing the papers. ASDC, MLA Jagat Singh Engty and Independent MLA Bhuban Pegu also accompanied them.

AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary claimed that the Opposition is united and the Congress has been spreading disinformation of rift in the rank and file of the Opposition only to confuse the people. �We will be able to get Jayanta Baruah elected,� he claimed.

AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal described the development of putting up a common candidate by the Opposition as a historic event in the political history of the State. In reply to a question, he said that his party would not issue any whip to its MLAs, as, it is confident that the MLAs would vote for Baruah.

Though the members of the Left parties were absent at that time at the office of the Assembly Secretary, who is the Returning Officer of the State�s Rajya Sabha elections, CPI MLA Dhrupad Bargohain put his signature in one of the nomination papers as a proposer of Baruah.

The Opposition submitted three sets of nomination papers in Jayanta Barua�s favour and AGP, BJP and the AUDF members proposed the name of Baruah.

The Congress and its alliance partner Bodoland People�s Front together have a number strength of 68 (Congress �57, BPF�11). The alliance also enjoys the support of seven Independent members.

The Opposition, at present has the combined strength of 46 members of the AGP, BJP, AIUDF, CPI-M and CPI. It is also enjoying the support of two Independent MLAs and the lone ASDC MLA.

According to GP Das, the Returning Officer of the RS elections, the required quota of votes for a candidate to win is 43.

The scrutiny of the nomination papers is scheduled for 11 am tomorrow.

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