BJP's strategic recalibration in Assam's candidate list, addressing oversights and presenting a revised roster, takes a surprising turn as Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh opts out of the Asansol Lok Sabha race.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revised its list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Assam, a day after the initial announcement. The corrective move came in response to oversights in the first list, where discrepancies in names and parliamentary constituencies were acknowledged. It was highlighted that the initial list failed to incorporate the recent delimitation process that Assam underwent.
In a statement shared on social media platform X, the BJP acknowledged the necessary corrections made to rectify the number and names of parliamentary constituencies for Assam. Notably, erroneous inclusions of obsolete Lok Sabha constituencies like Mangaldai and Kaliabor were rectified, along with the removal of candidates initially assigned to these non-existent seats.
The revised list now features key candidates for specific constituencies in Assam, including Dilip Saikia for Darrang Udalgiri, Amar Sing Tisso for Diphu, Ranjit Dutta for Tezpur, Suresh Bora for Nagaon, and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa for Kaziranga.Moreover, the political landscape witnessed an interesting shuffle for the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat. The BJP decided to field Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, sidelining the present MP, Rameshwar Teli.
The complexity of the situation was further heightened by the allocation of seats to allies. While two seats were allotted to the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP), a longstanding ally of the BJP, the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), led by Bodoland Territorial Region’s Chief Promod Boro, secured one seat.
In another development for the BJP, Bhojpuri actor and playback singer Pawan Singh declared his decision not to contest the Lok Sabha election from West Bengal's Asansol. This announcement followed the BJP's earlier declaration naming Singh as the candidate for the constituency. In a communication addressed to BJP president JP Nadda on X, Singh expressed gratitude for the party's trust but cited unspecified reasons for his withdrawal from the electoral race.
The upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Assam assume additional significance as they mark the first election in the state after the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted the delimitation exercise last year.
In a separate development, prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, announced his withdrawal from politics on Sunday. The decision came shortly after the BJP revealed its initial list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024, where Dr. Vardhan's name was notably absent. This move aligns with the recent resignations of former BJP MPs Jayant Sinha and Gautam Gambhir.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan took to his official social media account to share the news, expressing his anticipation to return to his ENT clinic in Krishna Nagar. In his statement, he reflected on a distinguished electoral career spanning over thirty years, marked by victories in five assembly and two parliamentary elections with significant margins. Dr. Vardhan emphasized his diverse roles in the party organization and various government positions at both state and central levels.
The veteran leader shared, "After over thirty years of a glorious electoral career, during which I won all the five assembly and two parliamentary elections that I fought with exemplary margins, and held a multitude of prestigious positions in the party organization and the governments at the state and centre, I finally bow out to return to my roots."
He further added, "Service to mankind was my motto when I joined MBBS in GSVM Medical College, Kanpur fifty years back with a desire to help the poor and needy. A swayamsewak at heart, I have always been an ardent admirer of Deen Dayal Upadhyay ji’s Antodaya philosophy of striving to serve the last man in the queue. It was at the insistence of the then RSS leadership that I jumped into the electoral fray. They could convince me only because for me politics meant an opportunity to fight our three main enemies - poverty, disease, and ignorance."