Three in fray for two Rajya Sabha seats in Assam

Three candidates have filed nominations for election to two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam y the last day of nominations on Friday.

The Congress had fielded former minister Ripun Bora and former union minister Ranee Narah as its first and second preference candidates while city-based businessman Mahabir Jain is backed by the Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF), the ruling party in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) or the autonomous council administering the four districts of the Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD).

The two seats are currently being held by Pankaj Bora and Naznin Faruque (both Congress) and are slated to fall vacant on April 2 when their terms end.

Elections to the seats are scheduled for March 21 and the polling will be held between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The counting of votes will be held at 5 pm the same day.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the Congress is going to win both the seats.

"We have decided to field two candidates in both the seats as we want to send active members to the upper house who can take up issues and problems of the state," he said adding that he is confident that both the Congress candidates will win the seats.

The effective strength of the outgoing assembly is 114 at present. While Congress has 70 members in the House, the All India United Democratic Front has 16 members followed by BPF with 12, the Asom Gana Parishad with 7, the Bharatiya Janata Party with 6, and the Trinamool Gana Parishad with one. There are also two independents.

--Indo-Asian news Service

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