Guwahati, March 22 Several sitting MLAs and aspirants who have been denied BJP tickets for the April 9 Assam assembly polls are threatening to contest as Independents. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and state party chief Dilip Saikia have reached out to them to calm their discontent, sources said.
The recent induction of Congress leaders Pradyut Bordoloi and Bhupen Borah into the BJP, along with their nomination as party candidates for Dispur and Bihpuria assembly constituencies, has angered many ticket aspirants within the party.
The most vocal protest has been in Dispur constituency, where senior party leader Jayanta Das was a strong contender before Bordoloi's entry.
Das openly protested against Sarma, accusing him of making the party a "Congress-BJP" by bringing in close associates from the grand old party and overlooking long-standing members.
He has announced his intention to contest from Dispur as an Independent, claiming that his supporters have collected the nomination papers.
The party has also denied a ticket to sitting MLA and veteran politician Atul Bora, who has represented the BJP in the constituency twice since 2016 and served two terms as an AGP leader since 1985.
Bora had also announced that he would consider contesting as an Independent, but the chief minister rushed to his residence to persuade him, though the veteran leader has not yet revealed his plans.
Discontent is also high in New Guwahati and Guwahati Central constituencies, where veteran leaders Siddhartha Bhattacharya of the BJP and Ramendra Narayan Kalita of the AGP, both former ministers, have been denied tickets.
Bhattacharya, who played a key role in bringing Sarma to the BJP in 2015, said he was not angry with the party, although he was reticent about his involvement in the upcoming elections.
Kalita was upset by the denial and the chief minister also visited his residence to discuss the matter.
Bhattacharya has been replaced by Diplu Ranjan Sarma, the sitting MLA of Samaguri, who visited the senior leader's home to seek his 'blessings'. The replacement of Kalita by veteran BJP leader Vijay Gupta has also raised concerns among a section of the constituency's electorate, as for the first time, a member of the Hindi-speaking community has been nominated for the seat.
Anger is also high in Bihpuria constituency, where Bhupen Borah has been nominated, replacing sitting BJP MLA Amiya Kumar Bhuyan.
Bhuyan, a former All Assam Students' Union (AASU) leader, said he was considering contesting as an Independent and was discussing the matter with his followers.
Former Jorhat MP Topon Kumar Gogoi, who lost to Gaurav Gogoi in the 2024 parliamentary polls, is also planning to contest as an Independent from Sonari assembly constituency, which he had won in 2016.
He said his supporters want him to contest as an Independent, and "we are discussing the issue".
In Barak Valley, there is growing discontent among sitting MLAs Nihar Ranjan Das of Dholai, Dipayan Chakraborty of Silchar, and Mihir Kanti Som of Udharbond, who have been denied tickets, sources said.
The CM sent his cabinet colleague Jayanta Malla Baruah to address their concerns, although the MLAs have not yet announced their future course of action.
Sarma, however, downplayed the situation, stating that there are 1,400 ticket aspirants and "it is not possible to accommodate all".
He said the party is prioritizing fresh blood who have worked hard to strengthen the party's organization at the grassroots level.
Sarma had previously stated that many sitting MLAs have been denied tickets mainly due to the 2023 delimitation exercise, which has led to the realignment of many constituencies.
The party has not given tickets to 19 sitting MLAs.
BJP state president Dilip Saikia sought to downplay the protests by a section of leaders, saying that talks are underway with those denied tickets, and "I am sure they will understand".
"The BJP is a disciplined party and its members will not do anything to harm its interests. Some of them may have expected tickets as they had worked very hard, but it is not possible to accommodate all aspirants, and they will understand," he said.
A senior party leader, on condition of anonymity, said there is resentment within a section of the party against former Congress members who have been given tickets just a few days after joining the BJP, while several veteran leaders, who have toiled for years, have been overlooked.
Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi had also alleged on Saturday that the BJP in the state is effectively a "Congress-led by Sarma".
The BJP, contesting 90 seats in the assembly polls, has given tickets to 28 former Congress members who joined the party since 2015 after Sarma's departure from the saffron party.
Elections to the 126-member assembly will be held on April 9, with votes to be counted on May 4.
