BJP picks Rameswar Teli & Mission Ranjan Das for Rajya Sabha candidacy in Assam

Guwahati, August 20: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has selected Rameswar Teli and Mission Ranjan Das as its candidates for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam in the upcoming elections.

Both candidates are expected to formally file their nomination papers tomorrow.

Teli, a former MLA from Duliajan, is a seasoned politician who previously served as the Minister of State (MoS) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Labour and Employment in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second cabinet.

Das, another experienced politician, is a four-time former legislator from the North Karimganj constituency.

The selection process saw 10 BJP candidates being shortlisted from nominations received by the party for the two vacant seats in the Upper House.

The election for these Rajya Sabha seats is scheduled for September 3.

These seats became vacant following the 18th Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent victories of Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, who previously held the Rajya Sabha positions.

Teli, who was denied a Lok Sabha ticket after Sonowal contested from Dibrugarh, emerged as one of the top contenders alongside other prominent figures such as former MPs Rajdeep Roy and Topon Gogoi.

Notably, Gogoi had contested against Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi for the Jorhat constituency during the 18th Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief, Bhupen Kumar Borah, HAS announced that the Congress party would not field any candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections, citing insufficient numbers in the State Assembly to secure a victory in the Upper House polls.