Guwahati: More than 700 aspirants have applied for Congress tickets to contest the upcoming Assam assembly elections across all 126 constituencies, even as the opposition’s seat-sharing arrangement remains undecided. In response to the heavy rush, Congress has extended the application deadline by one week.On Tuesday, several senior leaders — including MLAs Rakibuddin Ahmed and Diganta Barman, social media department co-chairman Pratik Bordoloi, party spokesperson Rupa Kalita, and Gautam Bhattacharya — submitted their applications.“In view of the large number of aspirants and the growing demand, APCC has extended the deadline for submitting applications seeking candidature to Jan 28,” the state PCC said in a media release.The APCC added that more than 150 aspirants submitted applications on Tuesday. According to APCC treasurer Hemhari Pegu, around 750 aspirants have filed applications since the process began.An unprecedented rush was seen on Monday, with many sitting MLAs, senior leaders, and young Congress members submitting forms to contest from various seats. Many aspirants hail from seats where Congress’s allies are also expected to field candidates.Among those who applied on Monday were former minister Pranati Phukan; MLAs Wazed Ali Choudhury, Pradip Sarkar, and Abdul Baten Khandkar; former MLA Rozlina Tirkey; senior leaders Benu Nath, Gopal Sharma, Utpal Gogoi, Deep Bayan, Ajay Gogoi, and Manoranjan Buragohain; youth leader Pallavi Saikia; Bidisha Neog and Palakshi Das; Ratul Kalita, Ratul Patowary, Luit Kumar Barman, Kridip Barman, Tanzil Hussain, Mohsin Khan, and Jeherul Islam, among others.
