Assam Bypolls: BPF Fields Suddho Basumatary From Sidli

The Bodoland People's Front (BPF) announced the name of its candidate for the Sidli assembly constituency ahead of by-polls in Assam. The party is set to field Suddho Kumar Basumatary who will be up against Nirmal Kumar Brahma of UPPL.

Earlier today, the United People’s Party Liberal nominated Nirmal Kumar Brahma to contest the Sidli seat. Assembly elections are scheduled to take place on November 13 with counting on November 23.

Basumatary, the vice president of BPF, campaigned heavily ahead of the by-polls, and exuded confidence of winning from from Sidli. He claimed that the party’s position is very strong amid talks of an alliance with UPPL. This was after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced that UPPL would contest the Sidli seat with support from allies Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

Meanwhile, UPPL fielded Nirmal Kumar Brahma, who will be contesting assembly by-polls for the first time. Previously, he served as a Member of the Council of Legislative Assembly (MCLA) for the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) from 2015 to 2020. He was defeated by James Basumatary of the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) in 2020.

He is the president of UPPL’s Chirang district committee. Notably, BJP is contesting three seats while the UPPL and AGP will be contesting one each of the five constituencies where by-elections will be held.

Earlier, the BJP announced the names for the Dholai, Behali and Samaguri seats with Nihar Ranjan Das, Diganta Ghatowar, and Diplu Ranjan Sarma set to contest the by-polls. On the other hand, the Congress named Dhrubajyoti Purakayastha from Dholai, Sanjib Warle from Sidli, Brajenjit Sinha from Bongaigaon, and Tanzil Hussain from Samaguri seat.

The Election Commission of India officially announced that by-elections for five Assembly seats in Assam will take place on November 13, with the results expected on November 23. These five Assembly seats became vacant earlier this year after several MLAs transitioned to parliamentary roles following the Lok Sabha elections. This included two MLAs from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including a cabinet minister, along with one each from alliance partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL), as well as one from the opposition Congress.

In the recent elections, BJP’s Parimal Suklabaidya, representing the Dholai Assembly segment, and Ranjit Dutta from Behali, successfully contested for the Cachar and Tezpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively. Additionally, veteran AGP leader Phani Bhushan Choudhury, a longstanding figure in the Bongaigaon constituency since 1985, won the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat. Meanwhile, UPPL's Joyanta Basumatary, the former MLA from Sidli, also made headlines by securing the Kokrajhar seat.

Also Read: UPPL Names Nirmal Kumar Brahma To Contest Sidli In Assam Bypolls