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Political parties face problems of plenty

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, March 9 - As the major political parties are witnessing a mad rush of people seeking party tickets to contest the ensuing polls to the State Assembly, the parties are now facing a problem of plenty and the leaders are finding it tough to finalize the lists of candidates to the satisfaction of all.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the first party in the State to seek applications from those keen on contesting the polls and the move saw widespread response. The BJP started the process of accepting applications from the candidates way back in June last year and so far, over 3,300 persons sought party tickets.

BJP sources said that views of the local level committees were given due priority, while the State election committee-formed panels sent them to the Central Committee.

The winning prospects of the candidates would be given main priority while selecting candidates. The Parliamentary Board of the BJP would finalize the list of candidates.

Upbeat by the success of the last Parliamentary Elections, the BJP announced its �Mission 84� and asserted that the party would be able to win 84 seats in the Assembly elections. However, after assessment of the situation, the party is now not even contesting 84 seats after coming into electoral alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People�s Front (BPF).

The Congress took applications from the candidates in the first week of this month and so far, more than 1,200 candidates, including the Ministers and sitting legislators, have filed applications seeking party tickets to contest the polls. In order to generate part of its election fund, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) took application fees from those seeking party tickets. The sitting legislators have to pay an amount of Rs 1 lakh each as application fees, while others have to pay Rs 30,000 each.

Congress sources said that the election committee of the APCC has started preparing panels and it would be sent to the All India Congress Committee for final approval of the list of candidates.

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) initially announced that it would contest in 60 seats in Lower Assam. The party wanted to come into an understanding with the Congress for the polls. But after the Congress rejected the offer, the AIUDF is likely to field candidates even in Upper Assam.

AIUDF spokesman Aminul Islam said that following demand from the party units in the Upper Assam districts, the AIUDF leaders are having a rethinking on contesting in those districts and the number of seats to be contested by the party would increase.

Islam said that more than 430 persons have so far applied for party tickets to contest the polls. He revealed that winning prospect and the need for strengthening the organisation would be two of the keys for selection of

candidates.

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