Taking the final call on which BJP candidate will be fielding from the prestigious Tezpur constituency, the party has named Pallab Lochan Das as its candidate for the same replacing MP Ram Prasad Sharma who quit the party earlier this month citing “neglect by new the intruders” in the party, say reports.
Das, who holds the position of minister of state (independent) in the labour ministry and tea tribe welfare in Assam, had joined the saffron party in 2016.
In the same year of his joining, Das was appointed Minister of State (MoS) for power in Sarbananda Sonowal-led government.
Das will be now contesting against Congress candidate MGVK Bhanu who is a retired bureaucrat and had served former chief minister Tarun Gogoi as the additional chief secretary.
The Tezpur constituency has drawn much attention this year due to BJP’s earlier supposed contemplation of selecting finance minster Himanta Biswa Sarma as its candidate which prompted the senior BJP legislator Ram Prasad Sharma resign from the party.