Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will announce names of its candidates after the meeting of the party’s parliamentary board on March 18.
“The (BJP election committee) meeting discussed the BJP list as well as seat sharing arrangements with our alliance partners. The BJP central parliamentary committee will meet on Wednesday evening following which we will release the list the same evening or on Thursday morning,” Sarma told reporters after the committee’s meeting on Tuesday.
Sarma said the BJP, which has been power in the state since 2016, will field candidates from 89 of the state’s 126 seats, leaving 26 seats for its ally, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the remaining 11 to Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF). The AGP is also likely to announce its candidates on Wednesday.
Voting for all the 126 seats in Assam will be held in one phase on April 9 and counting will take place on May 4.
The Congress has already named its candidates on 65 of the state assembly’s 126 seats and set aside 15 seats for its alliance partners. The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), which is part of the four-party Congress-led, released its first list of eight candidates on Tuesday. Party president, Lurinjyoti Gogoi will contest from the Khowang seat.
On Tuesday, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) released its second list of 12 candidates. Party president Badruddin Ajmal, who was earlier an MP, would be contesting from the Binnakandi seat.
Five sitting MLAs, Ashraful Hussain (Chenga), Hafiz Bashir Ahmed (Goalpara East), Nazrul Hoque (Dhubri), Mazibur Rahman (Dalgaon) and Abdul Aziz (Samaguri) have been included in the second list.
The AIUDF, which is not part of any opposition alliance in the state, had earlier named 11 candidates in its first list last week.
The United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL), which is part of the present ruling coalition in the state, said it will contest the state election on its own, and released a list of seven candidates.
Party president Pramod Bodo, who got elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha last week, will contest from the Tamulpur seat. Former All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) president, Dipen Boro, who recently joined UPPL, has been fielded from the Udalguri seat.