BJP Names Ahom And Tea Garden Leaders As Candidates For Rajya Sabha Polls

The BJP has named minister Jogen Mohan and MLA Terash Gowalla as candidates for the Rajya Sabha election from Assam. The other Rajya Sabha seat is likely to go to the BJP's ally UPPL.

The Rajya Sabha election for Assam will be held on March 16 along with nine other states to fill a total 37 seats, which will fall vacant in the next month as the term of the serving MPs would end.

Jogen Mohan is MLA from Mahmora and is currently holding the revenue and disaster management, hills area development, mines and minerals minister in the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led cabinet.

Mohan was also a minister in the Sarbananda Sonowal government. He is a resident of Jyotipur village in Assam's Sivasagar district.

Mohan comes from the Ahom community, which is one of the largest communities in Assam. He is a committed BJP worker, who has been with the party before he got an MLA ticket from Mohamora seat.

Gowalla is the MLA from Duliajan constituency. He was elected to the Assam legislative assembly in the 2016 election from Duliajan constituency. Before joining the BJP, he was a member in the AGP. Gowalla was a former general secretary in Assam Tea Tribe Students' Association. He plays a decisive role during every poll in Assam.

Ahoms are the most prominent Assamese community in the Upper Assam region. The Ahom community ruled Assam for 600 years, and so they are believed to be powerful. Since 2016, the Ahoms have largely voted for BJP, but in the last Lok Sabha polls, the Congress's Gaurav Gogoi won from Jorhat with the support of the Ahoms. This is why sending an Ahom leader to the Rajya Sabha is the BJP's Ahom reachout.

Gowala had replaced another tea tribe leader, Rameswar Teli, from Assam in the Rajya Sabha as BJP's candidate. The tea tribe community is a major vote bank. They make over 20 per cent of Assam's population, often decisive, as they have been voting in a bloc in Assam politics.

With influence over nearly 30 assembly seats, they are a key target for political parties; the BJP wants to keep a strong grip over this vote bank.

"Congratulations to my colleague in the Cabinet, Shri @JogenMohanAssam, and the Hon'ble Member of the Assam Vidhan Sabha, Shri Terash Gowala, on securing our party's nomination for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections," Himanta Sarma said.

"Both these outstanding leaders - hailing from the grassroots - have a demonstrated track record of public service, and I am confident they will make valuable contributions to enriching our parliamentary processes," he added.