BJP’s Dholai candidate ‘Bangladeshi’, says Assam Congress

The candidate, Nihar Ranjan Das, brushed off the allegations as the “height of falsehood”

The Assam unit of Congress has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of fielding a “Bangladeshi” as the candidate for Dholai, one of the five Assembly constituencies in the State where bypolls will be held on November 13.

The candidate, Nihar Ranjan Das, brushed off the allegations as the “height of falsehood”.

During the party’s campaign on Sunday, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Kumar Borah said the BJP was trying to set a precedent by fielding a candidate with doubtful citizenship.

“The allegation against the BJP candidate was made at a public forum by Amiya Kanti Das, who is close to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma,” Mr. Borah said, asking the Chief Minister to come clean on the Dholai candidate’s status.

Amiya Kanti Das withdrew his candidature from the Dholai seat after filing his papers as an Independent candidate.

The BJP candidate said he has not been losing sleep over the “lies” the Congress has been spreading. “The outpouring of support for me has made the Congress jittery. The allegation is best ignored,” he said.

The Dholai unit of the BJP said their candidate studied and taught at the Irongmara School near southern Assam’s Silchar town.

Eight candidates are vying for the Dholai seat, which was vacated by former Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya after he became the MP from Silchar. Among the BJP candidate’s rivals are Dhrubajyoti Purkayastha of Congress and Gour Chandra Das of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist).

While Congress is contesting all five seats going to the bypolls, the BJP is contesting three. The latter’s regional allies – Asom Gana Parishad and United People’s Party Liberal – are contesting a seat each.

Published - November 04, 2024 09:14 pm IST