BY THE CHIEF EDITOR
Rajagriha, 26 October 2022: As the scrutiny of the nominations for the upcoming general election to the 15th Lok Sabha, the Election Commission headed by the Rashtradhyaksh and a team of other officials announced that 10 candidates of the ruling-National People's Congress and two other independent candidates were unopposed elected to the parliament.
A total of 29 nominations were received as per the data issued by the Election Commission, of whom 28 were found to be valid while one was declared invalid. The candidacy of one, Ludwig Collins, of the Vishwamitran National Party (VNP) was declared to be found invalid as his name as per the party data and as per the national citizens register were not matching which later led to large confusions between the party authorities and the election administrators.
Of the twelve candidates who were declared elect includes several big names: NPC President Arthur Lacey Scott who contested from duo-seats - Maligaon and Kalapani won the former seat uncontested. He represented the Basistha Central seat in the 14th Lok Sabha; Prime Minister Farhaz Hazarika won from the Basistha City seat, while his deputy Sarala won from Rashtra Niwas as she returns to electoral politics after more than two years. Others include former Lok Sabha Speaker Tyler Mullins who won from Bhetapara as the Congress decided to vacate the seat for him, Defence Minister Matthew Tonna won from Noonmati, External Affairs Minister Rafe Burfield won from Chandril for the second time, Sports Minister W. Pranit Singh from Basant Bihar and Education Minister Arsal Abbas Mirza from Dadara. Former Culture Minister Bishakha won from Chandrabans for the third consecutive term, former junior home minister Abayat Ibtiyaz who lost during the last general election won from National List constitency while two first-time candidates- Manggala Alif Prasetia and Christian Laudani won from Basistha Rural and Gotanagar respectively. Of all the winning candidates, Mullins and Mirza were independents despite being backed by the Congress.
The election to the remaining eight seats will take place as scheduled. Senior Minister and former acting prime minister Abhiraj of the Congress will face Social Welfare Minister Kevin Doan of the VNP in Rajagriha. Abhiraj is the oldest continuing member of the parliament having served as a member of all the 14 parliaments. In National Capital Constituency, Therence Raphael Pagsisihan of the VNP will face External Affairs minister Rafe Burfield, while in Basistha Central it would be Reuben Perz of the VNP against W. Pranit Singh of NPC. The NPC decided not to withdraw the candidacies of two of its winning candidates Rafe and Pranit from the second seats. The other candidates in fray include Rory McPhail, the dissident former deputy prime minister who is also the VNP President who is trying his fate for the third time from Kalapani as he faces Congress chief Arthur Lacey-Scott as his opponent; controversial former prime minister Stefan Snagoveanu of the VNP faces newcomer Preetam Kapei of the Congress in Brikshasthana. National Development minister Arnab Deka is contesting from Radisson seat against Dr. Toyotomi Tatsumi of the VNP. Older brother of prime minister Farhaz Hazarika, Fardeen Hazarika is trying his luck in electoral politics for the first time by contesting from Boragaon against VNP Policy Director Devin Purcell. In Dhirenpara, a seat where a Congress candidate has lost for the last three times, Johannes Mattias Toome of the Congress faces Juan Cisneros of the VNP.
As the dates for the voting near, the whole election is taking itself towards an interesting turn of events. The Congress seems to be confident enough to form a government for another consecutive term after winning ten seats of the parliament unopposed. It just falls short of one seat to claim the majority but may also win the support of the two independent candidates.