Guwahati, Feb 19: Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi said on Wednesday that the party is likely to release its first list of candidates for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections by the end of February.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Gogoi said the Congress central leadership has directed the state unit to finalise and announce candidates for around 80 assembly seats by the first week of March. The first list will form part of this exercise.
The announcement comes ahead of a two-day visit by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is scheduled to screen candidate names as chairperson of the party’s screening committee. Gogoi said the party aims to complete the screening process at the earliest.
On the Congress-led opposition alliance, Gogoi said discussions are progressing and expressed confidence that the alliance will be finalised. He said the proposed alliance is positioned against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The alliance is expected to include the Congress, CPI(M), Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Jatiya Dal-Asom, and the Karbi Anglong-based All Party Hill Leaders Conference.
AICC general secretary in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will arrive on Thursday to hold meetings with party office-bearers, senior AICC observers, members of the political affairs committee, MLAs, district presidents, frontal organisation heads, MPs, and booth-level leaders.
The screening committee also includes Lok Sabha MPs Imran Masood and Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, along with Sirivella Prasad. Senior observers appointed for Assam are Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, and former Jharkhand MLA Bandhu Tirkey.
The Assam Assembly elections for 126 constituencies are scheduled for March–April. At present, the BJP holds 64 seats in the Assembly, while its allies Asom Gana Parishad have nine seats, United People’s Party Liberal seven, and Bodoland People’s Front three. The opposition includes Congress with 26 seats, AIUDF with 15, CPI(M) with one seat, and one Independent MLA.
