Congress, party supported nominee BPF win Assam RS polls

Guwahati: Congress nominees, including Sanjay Sinh, whose entry into the fray evoked protests as he was from Uttar Pradesh, and a ruling party-back candidate won the three Rajya Sabha seats in Assam today. Congress state president Bhubaneswar Kalita and Lok Sabha MP from Sultanpur Sanjay Sinh, bagged 32 of the 125 votes and party supported candidate Biswajit Daimary 29, sources in the office of the Assembly principal secretary, the returning officer, said.[caption id=“attachment_1379119” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Parliament of India. Reuters[/caption] Combined opposition supported candidate eminent journalist Haidar Hussain lost securing 26 votes. Of the 126 members, 125 cast their vote with one MLA of the opposition AIUDF, Ataur Rahman Majarbhuyan, remaining absent. Six votes, including one of Congress, were rejected. Kalita and Daimary are sitting Congress and Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) MPs whose terms end in the Upper House on 9 April. The other Congress winner Sanjay Sinh, is a resident of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and his entry had sparked off protests by political parties and organisations such as the AASU, KMSS and AJYCP. Haidar Hussain was supported by the BJP and minority-dominated All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and regional party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). The current term of sitting members Kalita, Daimary and AGP’s Birendra Prasad Baishya would end on 9 April. There are seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also representing the state in the Upper House. PTI