The Opposition Congress fielded Assam PCC president Gaurav Gogoi from the Jorhat Assembly seat as the party on Tuesday announced the first list of 42 candidates.
Congress insiders said screening committee chairperson Priyanka Gandhi wanted the sitting Jorhat MP, who is the face of the Congress in the polls, to contest from Jorhat to send a strong message to both the BJP and the Congress rank and file, soon after she had visited Guwahati last month.
The list also contains the name of sitting Nazira MLA and Congress Legislative Party leader, Debabrata Saikia, and the sons of two sitting MPs — Rakibul Hussain and Pradyut Bordoloi — and a former MP, Paban Singh Ghatowar, who is the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha president.
Also figuring in the list is the name of the state Mahila Congress president, Mira Goswami Borthakur.
“No sitting MLA has been dropped. Those who were
suspended or have joined other parties did not make it to the list,” a Congress leader said.
Assam has 126 Assembly seats.
The BJP had won the polls for two consecutive terms in 2016 and 2021.