Senior BJP leader and minister Jayanta Mallabaruah moved to quell unrest within party ranks in Bijni. On Sunday, he visited Bijni MLA Ajoy Kumar Ray, who was denied a party ticket, and held discussions with him. There is buzz that Ray may contest as an independent candidate.
BJP has fielded Arup Kumar Dey from the Bijni constituency. Mallabaruah said that discontent among supporters was natural when sitting legislators are not renominated. “One thing is clear, we will never do anything against the party. We listened to the grievances and worked towards a solution.”
Ray said, “I was supposed to file my nomination on Monday after contesting independently earlier and losing by a small margin. We will sit again with supporters and ensure we do nothing against the party.”
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In the Dispur constituency, BJP has fielded Pradyut Bordoloi, a recent entrant from Congress, dropping Atul Bora. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma met Bora and requested him to engage in organisational work in Dimoria.
Senior BJP leader Jayanta Das also hoped to get a ticket for Dispur and has now openly revolted after the seat was allotted to Bordoloi. In Bihpuria, sitting MLA Amiya Kumar Bhuyan has expressed disappointment and is considering contesting independently after being denied renomination. Similarly, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Ramendra Narayan Kalita was denied a ticket in Guwahati Central, with the seat going to BJP’s Vijay Gupta, leaving him miffed.
Sarma on Saturday met Kalita and tried to pacify him. Kalita said he would take a call on his next course of action after discussions with party workers.
Sarma said, “If some people go, we cannot help it, though we do not want them to leave. We had 89 tickets while there were 1,400 aspirants. There is no chance of any candidate being replaced.”
