ECI appoints Observer for Rajya Sabha polls in Assam

The Chief Electoral Officer of Assam has been appointed as the Observer for the Rajya Sabha election in the state by the Election Commission of India.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed Chief Electoral Officer of Assam as the Observer for ensuing the Biennial Election to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) from the state, an official release said here today.
Elections for the three Rajya Sabha seats, which would be vacant from April 8, would be held on February 7 with four candidates in fray.
The contestants in the fray are sitting Congress and Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF) MPs Bhubaneswar Kalita and Biswajit Daimary respectively, along with other Congress nominee Sanjay Sinh and combined opposition candidate Haidar Hussain.

Bhubaneswar Kalita is also the Assam Pradesh Congress president and a three time Rajya Sabha member.
The other Congress candidate is Sanjay Sinh, a sitting Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur whose entry into the fray sparked off protests by political parties and other organisations including the AASU, KMSS and AJYCP.

In a rare show of unity, three opposition parties of the state Assembly - BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) came together to nominate noted journalist Haidar Hussain as the fourth candidate in protest against Sinh's nomination.
The entire election process shall be completed by February 10 as per the schedule announced by the ECI.

There are seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also representing the state in the Upper House.