Guwahati, Bharat Chandra Nara, MLA from Nauboicha in Lakhimpur district of Assam, resigned from Congress on Monday after his wife was not given ticket for Lok Sabha elections. Two days ago, Congress declared Uday Shankar Hazarika as the party candidate from Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat. Nara was hopeful that Congress would give ticket to his wife and former Union Minister Rani Nara from this seat.
In a one-line resignation letter sent to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, he said, “I resign from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect.” Nara had resigned from the post of president of the media cell of Assam Pradesh Congress on Sunday. He was a five-time MLA from Dhakukhana assembly seat and in 2021 became MLA from Nauboicha for the sixth time. Before joining Congress, he was in Assam Gana Parishad (AGP).
Nara has been a cabinet minister in both AGP and Congress governments. He was also the press advisor to the then Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. His wife Rani Nara has been MP from Lakhimpur three times and was also a member of Rajya Sabha once. Party sources said that Rani Nara and Hazarika were demanding tickets from Lakhimpur. Hazarika had joined Congress from the ruling BJP a few months ago.
Sources said that Hazarika is a new face in the party, but he has the support of State Congress Committee chief Bhupen Kumar Bora. Earlier this month, Congress MP Abdul Khaliq had resigned from the party after not getting a ticket from Barpeta parliamentary constituency. However, after meeting with Sonia Gandhi and Kharge in Delhi, he withdrew his resignation letter.
Congress has fielded its candidates on 13 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It has offered support to ally Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) on Dibrugarh seat. In the outgoing Lok Sabha, there are three Congress MPs and nine BJP MPs from the state. One seat is with AIUDF and one with an independent.
At present, the BJP has 61 members in the 126-member assembly, while its allies AGP and UPPL have nine and seven MLAs respectively. Congress has 27 MLAs in the opposition while AIUDF has 15 members. Apart from this, there are three MLAs from Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), one from CPI(M) and one independent MLA.
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Tags: Assam, Congress, Loksabha Election 2024, Loksabha Elections, Mallikarjun Kharge
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 25, 2024, 19:09 IST