AAP withdraws candidate from Guwahati, urges Cong to withdraw candidates from Dibrugarh, Sonitpur

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 16, 2024

As a goodwill gesture, Aam Admi Party (AAP) on Saturday withdrew its candidate from the prestigious Guwahati seat and urged the Congress party to withdraw its candidates from Dibrugarh and Sonitpur for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The AAP, which is an ally of the Congress-led United Opposition Forum, has chosen its Assam unit president Dr Bhaven Choudhury to contest from the Guwahati seat.

AAP has also chosen Manoj Dhanohar for Dibrugarh and Rishi Raj from Sonitpur for the upcoming elections.

The Congress has named alliance partner and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi as the candidate from Dibrugarh, while Prem Lal Ganju from Sonitpur.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won 9 seats with a vote share of 36.4 per cent, while Congress won 3 seats with a vote share of 35.8 per cent. AIUDF won 1 seat, and Indpendent won 1 seat in Assam.

In a letter written to the United Opposition Forum president Bhupen Kumar Borah, AAP Asam president Bhaben Choudhury said: “AAP has decided to make the highest sacrifice to avoid division of votes in the opposition unity. The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of AAP has decided not to contest the Guwahati Lok Sabha seat.”

On February 28, the AAP said it would contest three seats and back the UoF candidates in the other 11 seats in the state.

AAP’s NBE in charge Rajesh Sharma said AAP has already declared its candidates for Guwahati, Sonitpur and Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seats.

“…We also challenge the Congress party and United Opposition Forum to reciprocate our gesture by withdrawing its candidate from Sonitpur and Dibrugarh seat. Else it will be clear that the Congress has done a setting with the BJP and is fighting only to make sure the BJP wins. People of Assam will not accept this,” Choudhury said in the letter.

“The 2024 Lok Sabha election is historic in the country. This election is to save India’s democracy. On the one hand, there is the BJP which wants to destroy democracy in the country. These people do not believe in the Constitution, they do not believe in independent institutions like the Supreme Court and the Election Commission and their only objective is to eliminate the opposition. This is why the AAP became part of the INDIA Bloc with only one objective — to defeat the BJP, everything else comes after that. It doesn’t matter whether we get some seats more or less; It is important that the party or candidate who can defeat the BJP gets the ticket,” the letter said.

Choudhury said that the people of Assam want the opposition to remain united, only then we will be able to defeat the BJP.

“AAP has decided to make the highest sacrifice to avoid division of votes in the opposition unity. The Political Affairs Committee (PAC, of AAP has decided not to contest the Guwahati seat. As you know, the AAP won the second-highest number of votes in the Guwahati Municipal Corporation elections after the BJP. However, to avoid splitting the votes of the opposition, we have decided not to contest the Guwahati Lok Sabha seat,” he said.

“We also challenge the Congress party and the United Opposition Forum to reciprocate our gesture by withdrawing its candidates from the Sonitpur and Dibrugarh Loksabha seats. E. it will be clear that the Congress party has done a setting with 80 and is fighting only to make sure (UP wins. The people of Assam will not accept this.” Bhaben Chouditury State President, AAP, Assam,” he added.