Silvius Condpan
Guwahati, March 16: The Congress today sprung a last-minute surprise by propping up sitting MP Silvius Condpan as its second candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 26.
The ruling party had till last night said that it would contest only one seat as it did not have the numbers and also cleared the candidature of Nazneen Faruque, a secretary of the All India Mahila Congress.
Hours before filing of nominations ended at 3pm, the party decided to renominate Silvius Condpan for a second term.
Flanked by chief minister Tarun Gogoi and PCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita, the duo filed their nominations by 1.30pm.
Gogoi later said the party was hopeful of getting its second candidate through though Nazneen remained the first preference of the party.
The chief minister also dismissed talks of horse-trading but said he would appeal to MLAs to support the party’s candidates when asked whether he would seek the support of the AIUDF.
The Congress claimed the support of 80 MLAs while the combined Opposition got the backing of 48 leaving out the three Independents in the House of 126.
If the Congress sent a message to the Muslim and tea tribes communities by nominating both their candidates, the Opposition managed to convey to the masses a united face by fielding a consensus candidate in Jayanta Baruah.
Baruah, a 48-year-old media baron, owns a vernacular daily known for its hard-hitting reports against the government.
Baruah filed his nomination papers just before closing time, accompanied by senior Opposition leaders Chandra Mohan Patowary, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Phani Bhushan Choudhury, Ranjit Dutta, Mission Ranjan Das, Badruddin Ajmal, H.R.A. Choudhury and Rameshwar Teli, among others.
Cong springs Condpan coup
