Assam Cabinet Minister Nandita Garlosa Joins Congress To Contest From Halflong
Gaurav Gogoi also files nomination; Nomination for April 9 assembly polls comes to an end
Guwahati: In a major jolt to the BJP, disgruntled party leader and cabinet minister Nandita Garlosa joined the Congress late Sunday night even after chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made last-minute efforts to change her mind. Ms Garlosa, a Cabinet minister in the outgoing state government, submitted her nomination to contest from Haflong.
Ms Garlosa joined the party in the presence of its Haflong candidate, Nirmal Langthasa. Confirming the development, Congress party in a statement said, “We are very happy to announce that Ms Nandita Garlosa has joined the Congress party. She is the voice of Dima Hasao for the last five years and she always stood for her beliefs and principles. She paid the price for this in the BJP because Himanta Biswa Sharma is only interested in selling the land of the tribals to large corporations. Congress declares her as our candidate for Haflong seat.”
The Congress party further said, “The BJP minister joined the congress party in presence of Mr Nirmal Langthasa, APCC General secretary and the candidate from Haflong. Ms Garlosa is set to contest the election in congress ticket from the Haflong seat as Mr Langthasa has proactively volunteered to vacate there seat in larger public interest. The formalities for the same will be duly completed shortly.”
The BJP has fielded Ms Rupali Langthasa from the Haflong seat, replacing sitting MLA and former minister Nandita Gorlosa. Ms Rupali Langthasa is relatively new to mainstream electoral politics but has been steadily building her presence in local governance. She currently serves as an executive member in charge of higher education in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC), a key administrative body in Assam’s Dima Hasao district.
The Congress on Sunday released the list of seven more candidates. Former BJP MLA Amar Chand Jain, who joined the Congress on Saturday, was named as a candidate for Katigorah.
The other nominees are Joseph Hasda (Gosaingaon), Birkhang Boro (Dotma), Rajat Kanti Saha (Bijni), Anchula Gwara Daimary (Bhergaon), Narayan Adhikari (Majhbat), and Nirmal Langthasa (Haflong).
In addition, Bihpuria MLA Amiya Kumar Bhuyan resigned from the primary membership of the BJP after the party fielded newly inducted leader and former APCC president Bhupen Borah from the constituency.
Meanwhile, Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi filed his nomination papers from the Jorhat Assembly seat on Monday. The deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha visited religious places of all communities before starting his rally from Jorhat stadium. It concluded at the district commissioner's office after around three hours, with a large number of people participating in the procession.
The Jorhat MP also visited his family home in Nazir Ali area and offered prayers before the portrait of his father and former chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
He will engage in a direct fight with veteran BJP politician and sitting MLA Hitendranath Goswami, who has represented the seat for five terms — thrice consecutively since 1991 as an AGP candidate and twice since 2016 for the saffron party.
The last date for filing of nomination papers is on Monday, while the documents would be scrutinised on March 24, and the last date for withdrawal is March 26.
Elections to the 126-member Assembly will be held on April 9, and the votes will be counted on May 4.
