By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati :Despite relief from the court, the BJP today denied ticket to Union Railway Minister Rajen Gohain and gave the Nagaon Lok Sabha ticket to Rupak Sharma. This was announced by the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) past midnight ending a day-long drama which began with Court dismissing rape charges against the Union Minister. The Guwahati High Court’s dramatic dismissal of the rape charge had rekindled the hope of Rajen Gohain getting renomination for the 5th time. But that did not happen as Nagaon MLA Rupak Sharma got the ticket. Rupak Sharma is a Himanta Biswa Sharma loyalist and he is the second Himanta men in the list of 10. The development will surely be going to cast a shadow as Nagaon attracted the biggest controversy in ticket selection and it was undecided till late last night.

There is inside information that Rajen Gohain’s son may be accommodated in place of Rupak Sharma in Assam Assembly if latter wins the Lok Sabha election. The Nagaon constituency looks tough for BJP as the AIUDF decided not to contest the Lok Sabha making it a direct Congress versus BJP candidate. Earlier in the day, the rape charges against Gohain had been quashed by the Gauhati High Court and it was speculated that the party might give him the ticket as Gohain is a strong contender from the region as he had won the General Elections the previous four times due to division of the Muslim vote between the AIUDF and Congress parties. This time, though, the AIUDF has decided not to challenge for the seat, which has made the task for the BJP all the more difficult and now it will be a two-way contest between the BJP and the Congress.

Former Minister Pradyut Bordoloiwill contest the election from the Congress party. On other hand Veteran BJP leader and sitting Tezpur Lok Sabha MP Ram Prasad Sarmah, who quit the saffron party after being denied a ticket to contest the ensuing elections in Assam, spoke to InsideNE on March 26 to express his thoughts regarding the controversy surrounding his departure from the party. “People from all over the state belonging to all communities come to me for help. People are slowly coming to realize that the refusal to give me a ticket is a huge controversy”, said the disgruntled MP. On being asked who the people should vote for, he said: “I urge people to vote for meritorious candidates who can work for the benefit of the people. They should vote for someone who can speak up in the Parliament and take the issues of Assam to Delhi.” “I am a man of the people. I am a down-to-earth man, a son of the soil. I never let the fact that I am an MP get to my head. People have free access to my residence, whether it be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Assamese, Bengali…”, he said.