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Editorials
Gauhati’s Nadal connection
Swapnil Bharali | February 23, 2019 11:19
hrs
With the extremely interesting political times ahead, let me be a bit speculative this time with no intention of rubbing anyone wrong. The thing is I am just armed with some rather chewy information which enables me to draw some potentially provocative conclusions.
Now just to cite a metaphor here: Remember the French Open? That tennis tournament that is part of the grand slam circuit? Well, for the last several years the tournament has been witness to a situation where 127 other players slog it out with each other for the privilege of losing to Rafael Nadal in the finals!
Now the Gauhati Lok Sabha seat, except for a Congress blip in 2004, has remained with the BJP (Bijoya Chakraborty, MP) for the past 10 years. And as per information from and mood gauged among Guwahatians, Gauhati has a fair chance of being retained by the BJP again this year notwithstanding the candidate they prop up. Yes, the reverend incumbent doesn’t quite stand a chance of getting a third consecutive term. Speculation is rife that Dr Himanta Biswa might be in the fray and that would mean that the biggest BJP heavyweight’s candidature might well offer Guwahatians a massive option to get some good work done for this majorly urban constituency. In this situation, it is interesting to see that a race has already started among Congress aspirants with Bolin Bordoloi and Bobbeeta Sarma having filed their respective applications to their party authorities seeking the privileged ticket. Both come from reasonable political backgrounds (in fact, Bordoloi’s lineage is rather impressive; he is the son of Assam’s first chief minister) and are old-timers in the Congress party. However, neither has won a major election – not at least to my knowledge.
Given this, Bordoloi’s and Sarma’s “workmanship” in politics remains untested and their abilities are prone to speculation. And Guwahati, by Jove, needs a capable MP! The constituency, especially its urban parts, have long been “under construction” so to say and it is time that the finishing works are done. Understandably though, ticket disbursement in the Congress party is the exclusive prerogative of its high command and one of the two clinching it is not a foregone conclusion yet.
With AGP is yet to flash a card, options are galore for the Guwahatian voter this year! Meanwhile, Nadal should win the FO 2019 as well.
