Young gun Biraj Deka, who is all of 26, is the youngest candidate to contest from the Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency in Assam. Kokrajhar goes to polls on April 23 next and Biraj filed his nominations on Tuesday in the Kokrajhar DC office accompanied by his supporters.
Reports stated that CPM candidate Biraj has jumped into the electoral battlefield in Kokrajhar and is pitted against stalwarts like Pramila Rani Brahma of BPF and sitting MP Naba Sarania (Independent).
The 26-year-old will also take on Congress candidate Sabda Rabha and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) candidate Urkhao Gwra Brahma.
A postgraduate in English literature, Biraj is one of the youngest candidates in the fray for the knocking-on-the-doors Lok Sabha polls.
“I don’t think age is a factor. For me, it’s the issues. I have been working for the issues of the people for quite some time. And unemployment is one of them. In politics, age doesn’t matter at all,” the full of beans Biraj said who is busy hitting the campaign trail these days.
The youngster knows the coming elections are not going to be a cakewalk for him. Yet, he is ready to take the bull by its horns –
“See, unemployment has been a major worry in the entire country. I will go for it. There are more than 60 lakh vacancies in different government departments. But the current BJP government has not done anything to fill these up. Besides, there are other issues of development in Kokrajhar. To work for the issues of the people has always motivated me. You will be glad to know that even the hard-working rural people who have very limited income have come forward to help us financially. These things help us to continue our fight,” stated the young politician, who is vice-president of the Assam unit of Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
Biraj feels that unity in the region is a crucial issue for growth and development and young people should join politics by the horde and become “changemakers” in the society.