GUWAHATI: Opposition Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam are eying anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act activist Akhil Gogoi as their consensus candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat.
The names of activist Gogoi, journalists Ajit Bhuyan and Adip Phukan, filmmaker Jahnu Barua, actress Barsha Rani Bishoya and Jayanta Baruah, the owner of Sadin-Pratidin media group, are doing the rounds as the possible nominee.
Barua, a strong critic of the CAA, said on Thursday that joining politics or contesting an election had never been his goal. Barsha, as well as the others, had actively participated in anti-CAA agitations.
AIUDF MLA, Aminul Islam, said Congress and AIUDF were looking for someone who played a pivotal role in the recent anti-CAA agitations.
“The person we are looking for should be someone who will be able to appropriately raise the issues of Assam in Parliament,” Islam said.
Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was critical of the move, said “If somebody gets elected to RS by taking help from AIUDF, his future generations will not be forgiven by the people of Assam.”