Guwahati: Former IAS officer Devasish Sharma, who took voluntary retirement from govt service before joining BJP, has been named the party’s candidate for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll, scheduled for Oct 6.The seat became vacant after then Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from Lok Sabha and joined BJP ahead of the Assam assembly elections in March.Announcing Sharma’s candidature, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We all know the kind of service he has rendered through the Deepsikha Foundation to cancer patients from Assam undergoing treatment in Mumbai. He has been serving cancer patients for a long time. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he also helped bring back cancer patients from Goa to Assam. He has conducted cancer-awareness campaigns across the state and, considering his credentials as an accomplished and dedicated person, the BJP has nominated him as its candidate for the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency.”“The relationship I share with the people is not merely a political one. It is a relationship built on love, affection and emotion. I have not approached people merely because I want to contest an election. There is an old relationship of love and affection, and I believe the people will certainly continue to give us that love,” Sharma added.Asked why people would support him, he said they had witnessed the development and transformation that had taken place over the past 10 years. “They will go where they see change and reject where they do not see development. The contest will be there, but I believe it will be a one-sided contest,” he said.BJP state president Dilip Saikia said a large number of people had joined the party from different constituencies, particularly from Samaguri and Lahorighat Assembly segments.“In these assembly constituencies, elected Congress representatives at various levels, including panchayat representatives, have formally joined BJP, along with thousands of Congress supporters. This proves that the politics of development pursued by BJP has received support from the people. It appears that they have already made up their minds. Although we have to wait until Oct 6 for the final outcome, the atmosphere we are witnessing in these areas gives us reason to believe that the people will, after due consideration and according to their conscience, support BJP and NDA in the interest of development and the overall progress of the region,” Saikia said.Four of the eight assembly segments in Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency have a majority of minority voters: Lahorighat, Dhing, Rupahihat and Samaguri. Dhing assembly constituency is represented by an MLA from Raijor Dal, while the remaining three are represented by Congress MLAs.On the minority votes, Saikia said, “I want to make one thing clear that we are not against any religion or community. BJP is not against Muslims, Christians, Buddhists or Jains. We are opposed only to those who deliberately attack Assam’s or the country’s civilisational and cultural heritage, security and self-respect. Whether they belong to one community or another, we will oppose forces that deliberately hurt these values.”
