Double Trouble: Congress Nominates Two for Same ZP Seat in Borkhola and Katigorah, DC Cachar Responds

In a shocking turn of events during the Panchayat Election nomination process in Barak Valley, the Congress party has given tickets to two different candidates for the same seat in not just one, but two separate Zila Parishad constituencies in Cachar district. This unusual situation has surprised everyone and raised serious questions.

As Panchayat elections are ahead, political parties have completed submitting their nomination papers for various positions like member, zila parishad, and anchalik parishad. However, on the final day of submission—Friday, April 11—an unusual situation unfolded that caught everyone’s attention. In two separate Zila Parishad seats, the Congress Party gave nominations to two different candidates for the same seat.

In the Bhubaneswar-Srikona Zila Parishad seat under the Borkhola constituency, both Farida Parbin and Dilwar Hussain submitted their nomination as Congress candidates. Similarly, in the Mohanpur-Salchapra Zila Parishad seat under the Katigorah constituency, two women—Nazrana Begum and Nazira Begum—filed nominations from Congress for the same seat. All four nomination papers were submitted on the final day at the Silchar Zila Parishad office.

While speaking to Barak Bulletin, Mridul Yadav, the District Commissioner of Cachar, stated, “With the limited information I have, the district president of Congress issued Form B—which is kind of a ticket—to two candidates in the same constituency.”

He further added, “There is a proper guideline for that. If the authorised person revokes one of the forms, then the other candidate would be nominated. And if nobody revokes it within 3 PM of the last day of nomination, which was yesterday, then the applicant who submitted their Form B first would be the validly nominated candidate.”

This situation has led to curiosity in political circles. Many are now questioning how the Congress party issued more than one ticket per seat. Some speculate this is a result of internal conflict within the party and possible misuse of power and money in ticket distribution.

It is important to note that just recently, Cachar District Congress President Abhijit Paul was accused of giving tickets in exchange for money instead of on merit. At that time, he strongly denied all allegations, saying the Congress was following party rules properly. However, this latest incident of double nominations has raised more concerns about the transparency of the ticketing process.

According to the DC of Cachar, in one of the two cases, the duplicate nomination was revoked, while in the other, it was not. He added that the scrutiny process is still ongoing, so detailed information is yet to be confirmed. He also clarified that such cases are not uncommon and are addressed through established guidelines. The final decision regarding the four Congress candidates filing nominations for just two seats will be taken by the Election Commission after the scrutiny is complete.