Guwahati: Trinamool Congress (TMC) has withdrawn from the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election, with its candidate Abdul Salam pulling out of the race on Saturday.The decision followed directions from party chairperson Mamata Banerjee after Election Commission of India temporarily froze the TMC’s name and election symbol for the bypoll, according to an official party release issued in Guwahati.Salam, an academician and retired vice-principal of Dhing College, had filed his nomination papers with the returning officer earlier this week.The contest now features 15 candidates, including BJP’s Debasish Sharma, Congress’s Sibamoni Bora and All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal.“We, the Assam Pradesh Trinamool Congress Committee, heartily support the decision taken by our Chairperson Mamata Banerjee regarding the Nagaon by-election. We are deeply pained by the unjust and undemocratic temporary freezing of our party’s name and election symbol for the Nagaon by-election. In protest against this autocratic, undemocratic, and ruling-party-subservient step taken by the Election Commission of India, we have decided not to contest the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency by-election,” state convener and MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed said in the media release.Sherman thanked party workers, supporters and well-wishers who had backed Salam over the past month. “We apologize to the respected voters of the Nagaon parliamentary constituency for withdrawing our party candidate under these special circumstances,” he said.
