Guwahati, 14 September (HS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said it has entered the electoral battle for the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election with its full organisational strength, while alleging that factionalism and lobby-centric politics continue to plague the Congress.

The BJP’s nominated candidate, retired IAS officer Debashish Sharma, is scheduled to file his nomination papers at Nagaon Sadar on September 16. According to the party, around 50,000 workers from Nagaon and Morigaon districts will gather at the Dawson Higher Secondary School playground and accompany Sharma in a procession to the Returning Officer’s office.

State BJP president and MP Dilip Saikia, Assam ministers Pijush Hazarika and Jayanta Malla Baruah, NDA MLAs from the two districts and other senior leaders are expected to participate in the programme.

Addressing the media at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan, BJP media panelist Priyanka Tamuli said organisational preparations have intensified at the booth, mandal and morcha levels across the constituency. She said the BJP’s Yuva Morcha, Mahila Morcha, Scheduled Caste Morcha, Scheduled Tribe Morcha, OBC Morcha, Minority Morcha and Tea Tribes Morcha are conducting outreach programmes among voters.

Tamuli alleged that the Congress continues to face internal differences despite announcing Shivamoni Bora as its candidate. She claimed that factional interests, distrust among leaders and competition between different lobbies have weakened the principal opposition party.

According to the BJP leader, the Nagaon by-election will be a contest between the BJP’s united organisational structure and what she described as a fragmented Congress. She said the BJP campaign would focus on its organisational strength, development-oriented politics and collective leadership.

Tamuli further claimed that BJP workers, booth committees, mandal committees and all seven morchas have entered the electoral field with the objective of defeating the Congress and the UDF and securing a decisive victory for Sharma.

She expressed confidence that voters in the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency would reject what she termed the Congress’s “lobby-centric politics” and support the BJP’s united and development-oriented approach.-----------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash