Guwahati: The Congress has appointed Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Jharkhand MLA Bandhu Tirkey as senior observers for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections.
The decision was announced by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal, who named teams of senior observers for the five states and Union Territories—Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry—scheduled to go to the polls in the first half of the year.
Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly are scheduled to be held in March–April.
The announcement follows the recent appointment of Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as chairperson of the screening committee for the Assam polls.
In December, the Congress announced a pre-poll alliance with CPI(M), Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Jatiya Dal–Asom (JDA) and the Karbi Anglong-based All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) to jointly contest the elections.
At present, the ruling BJP holds 64 seats in the Assam Assembly, while its allies—Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF)—have nine, seven and three MLAs respectively.
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In the opposition, the Congress has 26 MLAs, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has 15 members, CPI(M) has one legislator, along with one Independent MLA.
