GUWAHATI: With opposition Congress certain of winning one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam, the election to which is likely to be held in March, former Union minister and tea community leader from upper Assam Paban Singh Ghatowar has emerged as the top contender from the party.
Ghatowar is the president of Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha, the state’s largest trade union of tea workers, affiliated to Congress’s trade wing Indian National Trade Union Congress. It has played a big role in mobilising tea garden votes in favour of Congress for decades.
Insiders in the state Congress unit said Ghatowar’s representation in the Upper House will fill the void in the party, which doesn’t have any MP from the tea tribes of Assam — a deciding factor in state elections. “There is no tea garden representative from the Congress in the Lok Sabha or state assembly. So, it is important to send a strong leader to the Parliament from the tea belt, which was once the bastion of the grand old party,” said a source in the Congress. He added that the name of another former MP, Dwijen Sarma has also come to the fore.
However, a lot will depend on the Congress Legislature Party meeting, which is scheduled on Sunday to discuss if it would approach Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) to reach a consensus on a candidate from the opposition. The state Congress had snapped ties with AIUDF following the assembly election debacle last year.
State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah told TOI that senior party leader Debabrata Saikia will be entrusted with the responsibility of uniting the opposition to field a candidate against the BJP-led alliance. “Anti-BJP MLAs have the strength in the assembly to send one member from Assam to the Rajya Sabha in the election to the two seats, which will soon fall vacant as the tenures of Congress MPs Ripun Bora and Ranee Narah are coming to an end,” said Borah.
Congress has 27 MLAs in the state assembly, including Sherman Ali Ahmed and Sashikanta Das who have been suspended from the party. “The rule of suspension states that the two legislators will have to follow the party whip as far as voting in the Rajya Sabha election is concerned,” Borah said.
The fate of the opposition candidate will also depend on how Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi and lone CPM legislator Manoranjan Talukdar will vote. Borah said if the votes of anti-BJP MLAs remain intact, they have two surplus votes, even after ensuring the win of one candidate.
AIUDF spokesperson Aminul Islam said they are willing to unite the opposition MLAs, but rued that Congress has not played a proactive role in this regard. AIUDF has 15 MLAs, the second highest number in the state assembly. “Unless all secular and like-minded parties put up a joint fight, it is not possible to resist BJP in the upcoming Rajya Sabha election. The position of Congress is unstable as its MLAs are leaving the party one after the other. That’s the biggest worry,” said Islam. He added that no AIUDF MLAs will join the BJP or cross vote.
