Ex CM Assam Sarbananda Sonowal files Rajya Sabha nomination from Assam, likely to be elected unopposed
Guwahati, September 21: former chief minister is theUnion Assam Assembly. The unanimous candidate of minister the ruling alliance in the Sarbananda Sonowal on state comprising BJP, Tuesday filed his nomina- AGP and UPPL.Chief tion from a Rajya Sabha Minister Himanta Biswa seat in Assam and is all set Sarma, AGP leader and to be elected unopposed Agriculture Minister Atul with the opposition decid- Bora, UPPL leader and ing not to put up any can- Handloom and Textile didate against him. The Minister U G Brahma, Shipping Minister filed his Bodoland Territorial Re papers before Returning gion chief Pramod Bodo, Officer Dulal Pegu at the
Sarbananda Sonowal files Rajya
BJP state president Bhabesh Kalita, and cabinet ministers and saffron party leaders accompanied him. The Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after Biswajit Daimary resigned from the Upper House following his election to the Assam Assembly. He is currently its Speaker.Sonowal was elected to the Assembly from Majuli for the second consecutive term in May this year. The 59-year old BJP leader was inducted into the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July. The last date for the filing of nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls is September 22, while the papers will be scrutinised on September 23, and the results will be declared on October 4.However, Sonowal’s election appears to be certain as the opposition parties have decided not to put up their candidates.Sonowal expressed his gratitude to the people of Assam for giving him the opportunity to serve them and sought the blessings of all. He also thanked the prime minister and the people of Majuli.Sarma thanked the opposition for not putting up any candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls.”My best wishes are with the Union minister, from whose vision and leadership we have gained a lot. We hope that he will continue to raise the voice of Assam and the Northeast before the Centre,” the chief minister told reporters. The BJP’s strength will come down to 59 in the 120-member House after Sonowal’s shift to the Rajya Sabha. Its allies AGP and UPPL have nine and five seats respectively.Five assembly seats are currently vacant with two Congress and one AIUDF legislator resigning their parties to join the BJP, and two UPPL MLAs succumbing to COVID-19. After Sonowal’s resig nation as an MLA, the number of vacant seats will increase to six. There are seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam, of which six are currently occupied – two each by BJP (Bhubaneswar Kalita and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa) and Congress (Ripun Bora and Ranee Narah), one by AGP (Birendra Prasad Baishya) and one by Independent lawmaker Ajit Kumar Bhuyan.
Story Credit by AR
