Guwahati, March 19 The BJP's ally, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), announced on Thursday a list of 26 candidates, including 13 from the Muslim community, for the upcoming state assembly elections.
Minister Atul Bora will again contest from Bokakhat, while his cabinet colleague Keshab Mahanta has been re-nominated from Kaliabor.
MLAs Diptimoyee Choudhury and Prithviraj Rabha have been re-nominated from Bongaigaon and Tezpur, respectively, while Pradip Hazarika has been shifted to Sivasagar from Amguri, which was redrawn during the delimitation process.
AIUDF MLA Karimuddin Borbhuyan, who recently joined the party, has been re-nominated from Sonai, while Basanta Das, who switched over from the BJP earlier in the day, has been fielded in Naoboicha.
Bikash Saikia replaced MLA Renupama Rajkhowa in the Teok seat, while Ramendra Narayan Kalita was denied a ticket for West Gauhati, which was also redrawn during the delimitation.
Dergaon's MLA Bhabendra Nath Bharali and Chabua's Ponakan Baruah are also not in the fray as the BJP is contesting both seats.
The AGP has ruled the state for two terms. Leaders of AASU, who spearheaded the Assam Agitation against illegal immigration, formed the party.
Among the Muslim candidates are Ikbal Hussain (Karimganj South), Zabed Islam (Mankachar), Abdul Rahim Zibran (Goalpara East), Jakir Hussain Laskar (Algapur-Katlicherra) and Sahabuddin Mazumdar (Binnakandi).
The others are Jakir Hussain Farazi (Rupahihat), Shahidul Islam (Srijangram), Khalilur Rahman (Lahorighat), Saddam Hussain (Chenga), Nurul Islam (Chamaria), Abu Sha Shadi Hossain (Jaleswar) and Mehtabul Haque (Gauripur).
The party has also nominated Dipak Kumar Das in Barpeta, Tapan Das in Dimoria, Dhrmaeswar Ray in Bajali, Prakash Chandra Das in Hajo-Sualkuchi, Jibesh Rai in Bilasipara and Tara Prasad Das in Pakabetbari.
According to the seat-sharing arrangement within the NDA, the AGP will contest 26 seats, the BJP 89, and the Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF) 11.
The BJP announced its list of candidates for 88 seats earlier in the day, while the BPF is yet to name its nominees.
The elections to the 126-member assembly will be held on April 9, and the votes will be counted on May 4.