2 ex-Cong ministers, 11 new faces, 1 Muslim in BJP 1st list for Assam

Guwahati, March 5 : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam, which on Friday announced its first list of 70 candidates for the first two phases of Assembly elections in the state, has given tickets to two former Congress ministers, 11 new faces and a lone Muslim candidate.
Former Congress ministers Ajanta Neog and Gautam Roy got BJP tickets to contest from their old seats of Golaghat and Katighora, respectively. Neog and Gowala had joined the saffron party in December last year.
Former Congress legislator Rajdeep Gowala, who was elected to the Assembly after winning in the 2016 elections from Lakhipur, has been denied a ticket by the BJP this time.
Deputy Speaker Aminul Haq Laskar, who was elected to the Assembly from Sonai in 2016, is the lone Muslim candidate in the list of 70 nominees.
Besides Neog, Surabhi Rajkonwar from Sibsagar, Nandita Garlosa from Haflong (ST) and Angoorlata Deka from Batadrova are the other women candidates in the BJP first list.
Among the top BJP leaders, state unit chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass, who was earlier elected to the Assembly from Sorbhog, has been nominated to contest from Patacharkuchi this time.