This Article is From Mar 11, 2016

Congress Candidates File Nominations For 2 Rajya Sabha Seats In Assam

Congress Candidates File Nominations For 2 Rajya Sabha Seats In Assam

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was also present when party candidates filed their nomination for Rajya Sabha elections.

Guwahati: Congress candidates Ripun Bora and Ranee Narah today filed their nominations for the two Rajya seats in Assam which will fall vacant next month.

While Mr Bora was the former state Education minister, Ms Narah was a Union minister in the previous UPA government. Mr Bora will be the party's first preference candidate and Ms Narah will be the second preference candidate.

The duo filed their nominations before the Assam Legislative Assembly's Principal Secretary MK Deka, an Assembly spokesperson said.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Assam Pradesh Congress Chief Anjan Dutta were also present on the occasion. The Chief Minister claimed that both the candidates will sail through as the Congress enjoys an absolute majority in the state assembly with more than 80 legislators to vote for the party nominees.

The Congress currently has 69 legislators in the 126-member house with nine of its former members, who joined the BJP last year, disqualified from the Assembly.

Elections to the Rajya Sabha were necessitated following the scheduled retirement of two Congress members Naznin Faruque and Pankaj Bora on April 2.

Ripun Bora, who had represented Gohpur Assembly constituency for two terms since 2001, was the state education minister from 2006 but was removed after he was arrested by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a bribery case 2008.

He was accused of attempting to bribe CBI officials in connection with the killing of Daniel Toppo, a political opponent.

Mr Bora was subsequently discharged in both the bribery and the murder cases. His wife Monika Bora went on to represent the Gohpur assembly constituency in 2011 assembly polls.

Former Union Minister Ranee Narah in the UPA II government had lost the last Lok Sabha polls from Lakhimpur to Union Minister and BJP Chief Minister candidate in Assam Sarbananda Sonowal.

While the last date of filing nominations for the polls is today, scrutiny will be held tomorrow, withdrawal on March 14 and polling will be held on March 21 next.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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