New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday announced the name of Assam BJP spokesperson Pabitra Margherita as the party’s candidate for one of the two seats of the ensuing Rajya Sabha polls from the state. BJP ally United People’s Party Liberal is reportedly expected to contest the second seat.
According to the party’s official statement released by National General Secretary Arun Singh, the BJP high command also approved the names of Dr Sikandra Kumar, S Phangnon Konyak and Manik Saha to contest the Rajya Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura respectively.
Phangnon Konyak is the first BJP woman from the State. She is currently serving as the president of the women’s wing of the party in the state.
Manipur’s caretaker Chief Minister N Biren Singh congratulated Konyak on being nominated as Rajya Sabha candidate.
The BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National President JP Nadda leave no stone unturned to empower the women of northeast, said Biren and added that women empowerment has always been the priority of PM Modi as we have witnessed when A Sharda Devi was made the president of BJP Manipur state unit last year.
This is the beauty of BJP, he added.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also congratulated Konyak on her nomination in polls that are scheduled to be held on March 31.
An Ahom from Upper Assam, Margherita is the member secretary of the State level advisory Committee for Students and Youth Welfare of the Assam government.
The Rajya Sabha elections will be held in Assam to fill up two seats that will fall vacant after the terms of MPs Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora, come to an end on April 2 this year.
The BJP high command has also approved the name of Dr Manik Saha to contest the Rajya Sabha seat in Tripura. Saha, a dentist by profession, succeeded Biplab Kumar Deb as the State unit’s BJP president in 2020. With agency inputs
