Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate for the Tinsukia seat, Hira Devi gets ready to give a direct fight against BJP candidate, minister Sanjoy Kishan in the ensuing Assam Assembly elections.
After the RJD joined the Grand Alliance, led by Congress for the ensuing Assam Assembly elections, Congress has fielded no candidate in the Tinsukia Assembly constituency.
Sanjoy Kishan, the tea tribe welfare minister of Assam, belongs to the tea tribe community while Hira Devi belongs to the Bhojpuri community.
Tinsukia seat is dominated by Hindi-speaking community and in the past Assembly elections, the political parties most of the times gave tickets to Hindi-speaking candidates.
In the ensuing Assam Assembly elections, it will be a straight fight between BJP and the Grand Alliance candidate.
Devi, a native of Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, is now a resident of Tinsukia after she got married to a Tinsukia-based businessman.
After shifting to Assam, Devi completed her graduation in History honours from a Bhagalpur-based college in 1990.
“RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will campaign for Hira Devi in Tinsukia for the upcoming Assam Assembly polls. Hira Devi has started her campaigning in Tinsukia and getting support from the people. She has taken up many local issues in Tinsukia for the upcoming polls and if she is voted to power in Tinsukia then the issues will be sorted out,” said a party insider.
“She will build toilets for ladies and work hard for women safety in Tinsukia if she is voted to power. She is a social worker, who is associated with many social activities in Tinsukia,” a party source said.
Hira Devi is a successful businessman and was the first woman executive member of the Tinsukia Chamber of Commerce in 2008-09.
She had served Congress since 2003 and held many posts within the party.
“I am a candidate of the Congress-led alliance contesting on the RJD ticket from Tinsukia seat. There are many problems in Tinsukia which were not solved in the five years under BJP rule. If my party comes to power then I will solve these problems,” Hira Devi said.
Meanwhile, Sanjoy Kishan has expressed confidence in retaining the seat for the second time.
“After our government came to power in Assam, we have done a lot of work under the leadership of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal. We are sure that we will form the government in Assam for the second term.”
Sanjoy Kishan won the Tinsukia seat in the 2016 Assembly elections by defeating three-time Congress MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh by a margin of 35,032 votes.