The Congress late Saturday night released a second list of 23 candidates for the upcoming Assam assembly elections, and released a list of 15 seats that it has left for its alliance partners.
None of the 15 seats left for alliance partners are currently held by the Congress. These include Upper Assam seats like Sadiya, Dibrugarh, Khowang – which alliance partner Asom Jatiya Parishad’s chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi has reportedly been eyeing – and Sarupathar, and hill district seats like Diphu and Amri – which another alliance partner, the All Party Hill Leaders’ Conference, is likely to seek. Another seat, Bhowanipur-Sorbhog, is currently held by an MLA from another alliance partner, CPI (M).
Last week, the Congress and these three other parties had announced that they will jointly campaign for the assembly election. Days later, alliance talks collapsed with another potential alliance partner, the Raijor Dal, which has announced candidates for 13 seats so far.
With the release of its second list, the Congress has now announced candidates for a total of 65 seats. There are a total of 126 seats in the Assam legislative assembly.
The party’s second includes sitting MLAs Wazed Ali Chaudhury, Abul Kalam Rasheed Mandal and Rekibuddin Ahmed, and the party has fielded its former Barpeta MP Abdul Khaleque from the Mandia seat.
The BJP is yet to declare any of its candidates.
