Guwahati: Congress is likely to announce its Nagaon bypoll candidate by Monday after AICC general secretary in charge Bhupesh Baghel met state leaders and MLAs in Guwahati on Saturday.Baghel said the proposed candidate’s name would be sent to AICC for approval. Party sources said former Batadrava MLA Sibamoni Bora was the front-runner.The bypoll was necessitated after the then-sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the party and the Lok Sabha to join BJP ahead of the last assembly election. BJP later fielded him from Dispur, where he won.“Since I have come here for the first time as the secretary in charge, there has been a meeting of the political affairs committee, a meeting with the vice-presidents, and a meeting of the pradesh election committee. All three were held jointly, and all our senior leaders put forward their views. Now, our legislature party meeting will be held,” Baghel told reporters at Rajiv Bhawan, the state Congress headquarters in Guwahati.He said the meetings also discussed Nagaon bypoll and the upcoming Silchar Municipal Corporation election.Other ticket aspirants include former MLA Durlav Chamua and Congress functionaries Imdad Hussain, Mohidul Islam, Ranjit Barman and Assam PCC spokesperson Mohsin Khan, party sources said.Bora sought the Dhing seat in the last assembly election after delimitation shifted a significant part of her former constituency, including Muslim-majority areas, to Dhing. However, under the Congress-Raijor Dal seat-sharing arrangement, the seat was allotted to Akhil Gogoi’s party.Baghel also hit out at CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who questioned his interest in Assam.“Why would he (Baghel) think about Assam? Will he think about Chhattisgarh or Assam? So, I think the Chhattisgarh election is coming up soon, while the Assam election is in 2031. So, he will keep coming and going like this for a few days. But he has never really had any exclusive interest in Assam or in the interests of the state,” Himanta said recently.Reacting to the statement, Baghel said, “The election in Chhattisgarh is in 2028, so there is no need to worry too much about that right now. Instead, Himanta ji should be concerned about the flood-affected people here not getting flood relief. It is a double-engine govt, yet people are still unable to get adequate relief. He should also be concerned about how the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas have gone up, and about how the people of Assam can be given relief from these rising prices.”
