Protests against Congress RS nominee Sanjay Sinh in Assam

Guwahati: On the eve of the Rajya Sabha elections in Assam, various organisations like the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) took out rallies today against Congress nominee and Uttar Pradesh MP Sanjay Sinh and demanded that only local people be allowed to represent the state in Parliament.

The AASU took out rallies across the state demanding that the Sultanpur MP "goes back to his home Amethi".

MP Sanjay Sinh with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. PTI

The demonstrators were carrying placards against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, APCC vice president Rahul Gandhi, APCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for "insulting" the people of Assam by imposing Sinh on them.

Addressing the rally, AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said, "When all other states refused to accept Sinh as their representative in the Rajya Sabha, Gogoi and Kalita accepted him. Sinh has no connection with the state, its people, culture, heritage, politics and geography."

"We demand 100 percent reservation of the Parliament seats from Assam for indigenous people. Assam will not be allowed to be a dumping ground for politicians from other parts of the country," he said.

In their rally in front of the Assembly, KMSS activists shouted slogans asking Sinh to go back as he would not be acceptable to the people of the state.

The KMSS alleged that Congress could resort to "horse trading" during the Rajya Sabha poll.

KMSS leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi threatened that if any BJP MLA vote against the combined opposition candidate, Haidar Hussain, then Narendra Modi would be prevented from addressing his public rally in Guwahati on Saturday.

"(In that case) we will also put an end to AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal's political career in Assam. AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is also warned", Gogoi said.

The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) activists also took out rallies across the state and burnt effigies of Sanjay Sinh.

The Rajya Sabha candidates in the fray are sitting Congress and Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF) MPs Bhubaneswar Kalita and Biswajit Daimary, along with Sanjay Sinh and Haidar Hussain.

PTI