BIG BREAKING: Congress approves first 10 Lok Sabha candidates from Assam

GUWAHATI: The Central Screening Committee of the Congress party has given a go-ahead to 10 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019 from Assam. According to sources in New Delhi, at a meeting held last night in the capital, the CSC approved candidates for 10 parliamentary seats from Assam. 

The endorsement for the seats will be done on 15th March by the 12-member Central Election Committee. There are less chances of this list being altered as this is the final list approved by the Central Screening Committee of the Congress, said the source.

The ten seats that have been cleared are Karimganj, Mangaldoi, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Nowgong, Koliabor, Silchar, Tezpur, Diphu and Dibrugarh. The remaining three seats of Gauhati, Dhubri and Barpeta are yet to be decided and will most probably be decided by 15th March, Friday.

From the Karimganj seat, the name of Swarup Das has been approved as the Congress candidate.

From Mangaldoi, sitting Rajya Sabha member and senior Congressman Bhubaneswar Kalita has been approved.

From Dibrugarh seat, last year’s runners up and five-time MP Pawan Singh Ghatowar’s name has been approved as the Congress candidate by the screening committee.

From Jorhat seat, the name of Sushanta Borgohain has been approved.

From Lakhimpur seat, the name of Anil Borgohain has been approved by the screening committee.

From Nagaon seat, the name of Pradyut Bordoloi has been approved as the Congress candidate.

From Kalibor seat the name of Gaurav Gogoi has been approved by the screening committee.

From Silchar seat, the name of Sushmita Dev has been approved by the screening committee as the Congress candidate.

From Diphu seat former MP of the Congress party Biren Singh Ingti’s name has been approved.

From Tezpur seat, the name of former bureaucrat MGVK Bhanu has been approved by the screening committee.

According to the source, for the Gauhati Lok Sabha seat, the name of a prominent lawyer is doing the rounds amid protests from various sections.

The source also stated that as no existing MLAs would be considered as candidates for the Lok Sabha seats so the chances of Abdul Khaleque and Sherman Ali (both applied for Barpeta Lok Sabha) have ended. For the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat, Abu Taher Bepari is the front runner at the moment.

From Kokrajhar, it seems the Congress will prefer a Bodo candidate to cut BPF vote share and to help the independent candidate Hira Sarania, said the source.

More details to follow.