AGP renominates Birendra Prasad Baishya for Assam Rajya Sabha seat

Guwahati, June 8: The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has announced senior leader Birendra Prasad Baishya as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Assam, scheduled for June 19.

Baishya, who has been a Rajya Sabha member since 2019, brings decades of political experience to the race.

Baishya is a seasoned hand and his political career includes being elected as a Member of Parliament from Mangaldoi in 1996 and serving as the Union Minister of Steel and Mines that same year.

The senior leader holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Gauhati University (1979) and a Bachelor’s degree from Darrang College (1976). Baishya was also a Rajya Sabha MP in 2008 before his current term.

The AGP formed a three-member committee earlier this week to select the candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat.

Despite hopes among younger party members for a fresh face, the party reaffirmed its trust in Baishya’s experience by selecting him again.

Notably, Pramod Bhengra, president of the Asom Chah Parishad (the tea cell of the AGP) and a member of the Assam State Youth Commission, had also sought nomination.

Bhengra highlighted that AGP, as the largest regional party in Assam, has yet to promote any member from the tea garden community to the Rajya Sabha.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AGP’s ally in Assam, announced Kanad Purkayastha, Secretary of BJP Assam Pradesh, as its candidate for the other Rajya Sabha seat.

Both parties hold one seat each in the upcoming elections, which are being held as the current MPs, Mission Ranjan Das (BJP) and Birendra Baishya (AGP), retire on June 14, 2025.