BJP To Contest 11 Lok Sabha Seats In Assam, 3 For Allies: Himanta Sarma

The BJP will contest 11 seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls in Assam, leaving three for its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.

Among the other northeastern states, it will support the NDPP candidate in Nagaland, while the details are being worked out in the other states, Sarma, who is also the convenor of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), said.

The AGP will contest from Barpeta and Dhubri, while UPPL will field its candidate in Kokrajhar. The allies will support each other's candidates in all the 14 constituencies in Assam, Mr Sarma said.

"Yesterday, BJP state chief Bhabesh Kalita and I had a meeting with our national president J P Nadda, Union Home minister Amit Shah and our national general secretary B L Santosh, during which seat-sharing was discussed," he told a press conference at the party headquarters here.

He said UPPL had requested for the Kokrajhar seat, which the BJP agreed to.

"The AGP, which has its base across the state, wanted more seats. But I conveyed to them the request of our central leadership to contest from two seats this time, and they have obliged us," the CM said.

"Of the total 14 seats, we are optimistic of winning 11. In the other three also, we will fight tooth and nail," he said.

The BJP has nine MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha from the state, while the AGP and UPPL have no representation.

The Congress holds three seats and the AIUDF one, while another is with an independent candidate.

Sarma said the BJP's parliamentary board will finalise the list of its party candidates, adding that no "report card" is taken from the sitting MPs and candidates are decided through "open discussion".

He said that some sitting MPs have expressed the desire not to contest polls and rather devote more time to party activities, and hence, few new faces could be expected.

Asked about the purported tussle between Congress MPs Pradyut Bordoloi and Gaurav Gogoi over the Nagaon constituency, Sarma said, "The Nagaon seat has been fragmented due to delimitation. Who contests from there for the Congress is for the party to decide." Bordoloi currently holds the Nagaon seat, while Gogoi represents neighbouring Kaliabor, a major portion of which has become part of the newly-created Kaziranga constituency post-delimitation.

On the projection of Nagaon as a minority-dominated seat, the CM said, "It should not be called so. It is the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva (Vaishnavite saint). I don't want to defame a place which is sacred for us.".

"We shouldn't brand a place as majority or minority-dominated one," he added.

In Nagaland, the BJP will support its ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) candidate, Sarma said.

In Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, discussions are underway, the NEDA convenor added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)