Guwahati: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee on Sunday held a review meeting at Rajiv Bhawan here on the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election, necessitated by the resignation of former Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who joined BJP ahead of the recently-concluded assembly polls.Former Congress MLA Sibamoni Bora, along with two other Congressmen from central Assam — Utpal Bania and Birinchi Bora — are among the leading contenders for the Nagaon bypolls, party sources said. Sibamoni was set to contest from the Muslim-majority Dhing seat, but Congress had to give up the seat to Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal under a seat-sharing deal.Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi said the party is reaching out to the public with new planning and aims to build a “new Congress” in line with public expectations. He said the meeting at the party’s state headquarters was held to review the factors behind the party’s setback in the assembly elections and to discuss how it will work firmly for the public in the upcoming by-elections after completing this assessment.Former leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia, whose name had been speculated as a contender for the Nagaon by-election, said he was not interested in contesting. “A local candidate will be better. I do not want to make a parachute landing, as I want to do politics from my own area,” Saikia added.
