Guwahati, March 6: The BJP state president Ranjeet Das on Saturday announced that Rupesh Gowala will be the BJP candidate from Doomdooma and Paramananda Rajbongshi will be the BJP candidate from Sipajhar.
Rupesh Gowala is the general Secretary of Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha(ACMS), the frontline organisation of tea workers.
Rupesh Gowala is a vocal critic of BJP made a U-turn and joined the saffron brigade ahead of the Assam Assembly polls and got ticket from BJP.
Its a quite surprised for everybody because two months ago, ACMS had organised a ‘Shramik Gorjan’ programme in Dibrugarh on January 18, 2021, where Rupesh Gowala criticised the BJP government for failing the hike the wages of tea garden workers.
“BJP have placed Rupesh Gowala from Doomdooma constituency because he belongs from tea tribe community and Doomdooma constituency is dominated by Adivasi community and it has been quite easy for him to win the seat,” said Rupak Bhattacharjee, political observer.
Talking to this correspondent, former Union DoNER minister and president of ACMS Paban Singh Ghatowar said, “It is his own decision, which party he want to join. ACMS ideology is similar to Congress. But if he wants to contest from BJP ticket it is his own decision. Till now he is a general Secretary of ACMS but our committee will take decision regarding his post,”.
In upper Assam, the tea tribe community plays a major role in elections because of their population pattern. They will decide the fate of the canditate.
Ghatowar said, “In 2016, Assembly election, 60 per cent of the tea tribes people voted for the BJP but this time it will be different,”.
On the other hand, Paramananda Rajbongshi, former Sahitya Sabha president seeking ticket from Kalaigaon constituency from AGP ticket but he was denied ticket by AGP top brass. He immediately resigned from AGP, who has joined AGP in last November.
Rajbongshi will now contest from Sipajhar under BJP ticket.
“This year election will be quite interesting in Assam because everyone is power-hungry. Their is no ideology, its only power. Some leaders who have opposed BJP for bringing CAA and protesting against the government, now they have joined BJP, ” said a Bhattacharjee.
