GUWAHATI: With opposition Congress certain of winning one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam, the election to which is likely to be held in March, former Union minister and tea community leader from upper Assam Paban Singh Ghatowar has emerged as the top contender from the party.
Ghatowar is the president of Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha, the state’s largest trade union of tea workers, affiliated to Congress’s trade wing Indian National Trade Union Congress. It has played a big role in mobilising tea garden votes in favour of Congress for decades.
Insiders in the state Congress unit said Ghatowar’s representation in the Upper House will fill the void in the party, which doesn’t have any MP from the tea tribes of Assam — a deciding factor in state elections. “There is no tea garden representative from the Congress in the Lok Sabha or state assembly. So, it is important to send a strong leader to the Parliament from the tea belt, which was once the bastion of the grand old party,” said a source in the Congress. He added that the name of another former MP, Dwijen Sarma has also come to the fore.
