Former Nagaon deputy commissioner Devasish Sharma, who resigned from the civil services last week, will be the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled for October 6 .
He later contested as the BJP candidate from the Dispur seat in Guwahati and won. In a brief statement issued on Friday, Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh said the party’s central election committee had approved Sharma’s name. He is a right person in the right party,” state BJP president Dilip Saikia said after Sharma was inducted into the party on Tuesday, a day before the Election Commission announced the bypoll. Earlier reporting noted: Former Nagaon District Commissioner and administrative officer Debasish Sharma, along with journalists Lenin Saurav Bora and Gunjan Kalita, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam on Tuesday.
“Sharma is a popular and well-known face in Assam. Besides being a successful bureaucrat, he is known for his social and cultural activities as well. The Assam Congress has criticised the government’s hurried decision to accept his resignation and approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) to seek a probe into his tenure in Nagaon. The three joined the party at a ceremony held at BJP Assam Pradesh headquarters at Vajpayee Bhawan in Basistha, in the presence of Assam BJP president and Darrang-Udalguri MP Dilip Saikia and several senior party leaders.
In a representation to EC, Congress MP from Dhubri Rakibul Hussain said the civil servant should be held accountable for his decisions as the Nagaon DC. A high level probe should be ordered against Sharma to uphold the “purity, neutrality and credibility of the electoral process”, Hussain said. “The officer’s sudden resignation or voluntary retirement from government service makes the matter critically sensitive and consequential,” the representation to EC said. Earlier reporting noted: Speaking about the meeting, BJP MLA Pulak Gohain said that various issues will be discussed in the meeting.
The Nagaon seat became vacant earlier this year after Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned in March and joined the BJP ahead of the April assembly polls.
