Polling for two Rajya Sabha seats begins in Assam

GUWAHATI - Voting for two Rajya Sabha seats in Assam began Friday amid charges and counter-charges of horse-trading, even as the ruling Congress claims it will win both the seats with at least 11 opposition legislators vowing to vote against their own party-backed candidate.

Voting opened at 9 a.m. with more than 20 legislators casting their ballot in the first one hour of polling. The Assam assembly has 126 legislators.

The Congress fielded two candidates - Silvious Condpan being the second preference candidate, while Nazneen Farooq is their first choice.

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF) fielded only one combined candidate - Jayanta Baruah, owner of the mass circulated Asomiya Pratidin newspaper.

While the Congress is sure to win with their first preference candidate, their second candidate would scrape through only if there is cross voting in the opposition camp.

The opposition camp got a setback Thursday night when at least 11 legislators from their camp — two from the AUDF, four from the BJP, three independents and one each from the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) and an AGP legislator — vowed to vote against Baruah.

The opposition requires 43 votes to let their candidate win the polls and as of now Baruah has the support of 41 legislators.

AUDF leader Aditya Langthasa said: “It’s a murder of democracy with the Congress indulging in massive horse-trading.”

There were similar charges levelled by the Congress that the opposition was trying to lure legislators.