Assam: CAA Movement Leader Ajit Bhuyan Chosen as Opposition Candidate for Rajya Sabha Berth

Guwahati, March 6, 2020:

Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, a noted journalist from Assam, who has been outspoken in his opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, has been chosen as the consensus candidate by the Congress-AIUDF alliance. Bhuyan, who has been seen leading protests against CAA across the length and breadth of Assam, has meanwhile received the letter of nomination in the afternoon.

It was earlier believed that filmmaker Jahnu Barua and actress Barsha Rani Bishaya, prominent in their role in anti-CAA protests, were being earmarked for the seat. However, Barua later took to social media, and said that he is not interested in politics.

In a video that has since gone viral, Barua proclaimed: "I have heard that opposition parties have discussion presenting my name for nomination, and I have heard murmurs that I have expressed desire of being a Rajya Sabha MP. It is completely untrue, and I am saddened that my name is being brought up like this. I have said in the past that I am not a political man and have never expressed will to be involved in politics”.

ALSO READ: US Tourist who Recently Visited Guwahati, Detected with Coronavirus in Bhutan

Inside Northeast sources have informed that the opposition party was looking to field a candidate who is actively involved in anti-CAA protests, which continue to be held across Assam.

It may be mentioned here that the Opposition comprising the Congress with 23 MLAs and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) with 14 MLAs can bag the third seat only if they field a consensus candidate and there is cross-voting. The BJP, that has 86 legislators, is confident of winning the two other seats. The three seats are to be vacated by Bhubaneswar Kalita, Sanjay Sinh and Biswajit Daimary in April. Kalita and Singh are former Congressmen who went on to join the BJP.

The Congress and the AIUDF, formed in 2005 after the Supreme Court scrapped the allegedly pro-foreigners Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act of 1983, have hardly been on the same page, but Congress leader Tarun Gogoi has opined that there is a need for the anti-CAA parties to join forces.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.