Three BJP sitting MPs dropped from candidates' list in Assam

GUWAHATI: BJP, which has announced the names of eight candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, has dropped three sitting MPs from its list. The three sitting MPs who could not make it to the list are Ramen Deka from Mangaldoi, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa from Jorhat and Bijoya Chakraborty from Guwahati.


BJP sources said that the party's central election committee decided to drop the sitting MPs after taking into account the anti-incumbency factor against them.

In their places, the BJP has declared party general secretary Dilip Saikia for Mangaldoi, power minister Tapan Gogoi for Jorhat and Queen Ojha for Guwahati as candidates.

BJP spokesperson, Sarat Saikia said that the central election committee of the party declared the list after going through pros and cons of the winning factor of each and every candidate. "We have nothing to say on it. Candidates have been chosen based on their chances of emerging victorious," Saikia said.

Two sitting MPs - Rameswar Teli from Dibrugarh and Pradan Baruah from Lakhimpur - made it to the list of eight candidates declared by the BJP's central election committee on Thursday. Candidates for the remaining three seats are Rajdeep Roy for Silchar, Kripanath Malla for Karimganj (SC) and Harensingh Bey for Autonomous District (ST).

BJP will contest in 10 out of the 14 parliamentary seats. The saffron party has left four seats for its allies - Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF). AGP will contest in Dhubri, Barpeta and Kaliabor while BPF will contest from the Kokrajhar (ST) seat.