Buragohain (left) and Tanti: Peeved

March 17: Four PCC office-bearers filed their nominations against official candidates, one official nominee failed to turn up to submit his papers and supporters of a ?deprived? ticket aspirant from Goalpara stormed the party headquarters in Guwahati on a day of major setbacks for the ruling Congress.

The first piece of bad news for the party came from Hojai subdivision of Nagaon. Former minister Rashidul Haque, who had only recently rejoined the party after a stint with the Janata Dal (United), was stopped by supporters of his previous party from filing his nomination for the Jamunamukh seat.

Haque was a surprise inclusion in the Congress? list of candidates. A peeved Bashiruddin Lashkar, who had been expected to get the ticket, turned renegade and filed his nomination as an Independent.

Haque found himself in a no-win situation because Congress activists in Jamunamukh preferred Lashkar, while his own band of supporters from his days in the JD(U) wanted him to contest from his stronghold, Rupahihat, but not as a Congress candidate.

Hundreds of JD(U) supporters surrounded Haque?s Nagaon residence in the morning to keep him from filing his nomination for Jamunamukh. The Congress leader declined to comment.

A JD(U) leader said the only option left for Haque was to contest the Rupahihat seat, where polling is slated for April 10, as an Independent. The last date for filing a nomination there is April 24.

As many as 11 candidates, including Assam United Democratic Front president Badruddin Ajmal, sitting AGP legislator Khalilur Rahman Chaudhury and three Independents, are contesting the Jamunamukh seat.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi and PCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita filed their nominations for Titabor and Rangia.

Veteran Congress legislator Dileswar Tanti filed his nomination for Doomdooma, in Tinsukia district, as a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate. The Congress ignored Tanti, who has been representing the constituency since 1978, in favour of newcomer Durga Bhumij, former president of the All Assam Tea Tribes Students? Association.

?It is shocking?a six-time MLA losing out to someone who joined the party on March 3. Till the other day, Bhumij was badmouthing Tarun Gogoi, among others,? Tanti said.

PCC secretary Kishore Bhattacharyya, too, joined the NCP after being denied the ticket for Kamalpur, where sitting legislator Uttara Kalita was renominated.

Another ticket aspirant, Dibrugarh district Congress vice-president Pradeep Buragohain, filed his nomination for the Naharkatia seat as an Independent candidate. The Congress reposed faith in two-time MLA Pranati Phukan.

As loyalties changed overnight, supporters of sitting Dudhnoi MLA Pranoy Rabha laid siege to Rajiv Bhawan for almost two hours. They were looking for party leaders who allegedly had a hand in Rabha being overlooked. PCC secretary Ram-esh Jain was almost manhandled by activists who mistook him for MP Kirip Chaliha.