Guwahati, Feb 3: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Thursday clarified that APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah would “under no circumstances or terms”, be a candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
In a statement issued by APCC here, senior party spokesperson Manjit Mahanta alleged that a section “from the ruling party have indulged in spreading misinformation among a section of the media in this regard, as there is no possibility of the party chief contesting the ensuing polls.”
Mahanta further said that the All India Congress Committee had entrusted the responsibility of strengthening the principal Opposition party’s organisational base in Assam on the APCC president, and accordingly, under Borah’s initiative, a massive membership drive is also underway from the grassroots, blocks to the higher levels.
“Moreover, the APCC president realises that there are many senior and experienced candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls in the Assam PCC. So such misinformation has been very strategically and dexterously propagated by certain political circles to mislead the party workers and leaders ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections,” Mahanta said.
The party spokesperson further said that Congress’ candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls would be announced at the appropriate time.
The Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled to be held in March this year.
Two seats of Rajya Sabha in Assam will fall vacant once the terms of Congress MPs, Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora, are completed on April 22, 2022.
The APCC had recently constituted a seven-member committee to discuss and finalise candidates for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections.
“The committee will discuss with all anti-BJP MLAs and submit a report in regard to selection of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections,” the APCC chief had earlier said.