The Congress will not nominate former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Assam Congress MP Santius Kujur to the Rajya Sabha from the state, The New Indian Express reported on Monday. Their current term will end on June 14.
“The Congress will not nominate anyone this time around,” Assam Congress spokesperson Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya told the newspaper. “This is because we don’t have the numbers [in the Assembly].”
However, the Congress may nominate Singh from another state where it has the numbers. Singh has been representing Assam in the Upper House since 1991. Singh was last elected was on May 30, 2013.
The Congress has 25 MLAs in the 126-member state Assembly while the ruling alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People’s Front has 87 legislators. An independent MLA also supports the ruling alliance. The All India United Democratic Front has 12 MLAs.
The Assam Assembly will elect members to the two Rajya Sabha seats on June 7. State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the BJP had finalised the nomination for one seat. “Kamakhya Prasad Tassa may be a candidate,” he told The Hindu. Tassa is a former MP.
Asom Gana Parishad president and Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said his party would field former parliamentarian Birendra Prasad Baishya from the other seat.
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