Guwahati, June 4: The Assam BJP has shortlisted 13 senior leaders as nominees for one Rajya Sabha seat in the biennial election to the Upper House to be held on June 19.
“The BJP’s state election committee has received 13 applications for the nomination to the Rajya Sabha – 2025, and after detailed discussions, the committee has decided to send the names of 13 senior karyakartas for your kind consideration,” Assam BJP general secretary Pallab Lochan Das stated in a letter to the BJP’s national president.
The nominees shortlisted are former Guwahati MP, Queen Oja; former Silchar MP, Rajdeep Roy; MP (Rajya Sabha), Mission Ranjan Das; former Union minister, Rajen Gohain; former chairperson of Assam State Child Welfare Commission, Sunita Changkakati; former state general secretary Pradip Thakuria; former state secretary Sanjib Goswami; former state vice president Dayananda Borgohain; former state general secretary Vijay Kumar Gupta; former national vice president, Mahila Morcha, Mridula Barkakati; BJP member and former president of Assam Gorkha Students’ Union, Bhaskar Dahal; state secretary Kanad Purkayastha and former state general secretary Biswarup Bhattacharjee
The nominees were shortlisted during a meeting of the BJP’s state election committee here, attended by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma; state BJP president Dilip Saikia and other key organisational members.
Of the two Rajya Sabha seats allotted to Assam, one has been earmarked for the BJP’s regional ally, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had on May 26 announced that the biennial elections for two Rajya Sabha seats in Assam would be held on June 1, and nominations for the same could be submitted till June 9, 2025.
The elections are being conducted in the wake of the expiry of the terms of two Rajya Sabha MPs from Assam – Mission Ranjan Das (BJP) and Birendra Prasad Baishya (AGP) – on June 14, 2025.
Assam holds seven seats in the Upper House, six of which are held by the NDA – BJP (4), AGP (1) and UPPL (1), while one seat is held by an Independent.