Assam: Amid Internal Strife, 34 Bongaigaon AGP Members Resign

With the Election Commission announcing the dates for by-polls in five assembly constituencies of Assam including Bongaigoan, the political atmosphere has heated up. However, Asom Gana Parishad's (AGP) Bongaigaon unit is facing a crisis with 34 members including the president and secretary resigning.

The outrage was over the party's decision to put forth Diptimoyee Choudhury, wife of former MLA and current Barpeta MP Phani Bhusan Choudhury, as their candidate.

AGP workers in the constituency are opposing Diptymoyee's candidacy, asserting that she should not be accepted as a candidate for the constituency for any reason.

Among the resigning members are five Panchayat presidents. Additionally, Sailen Sarkar, the BJP's general secretary, who has been considered a strong contender for the candidacy in the constituency, has also resigned.

In light of this situation, it will be interesting to see how the AGP leadership navigates this internal conflict regarding candidate selection in the Bongaigaon constituency.

Notably, the ECI on Tuesday officially announced that by-elections for five Assembly seats in Assam will take place on November 13, with the results expected on November 23. The constituencies involved are Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri.

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.

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