Prominent Assam Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi, the Lok Sabha MP from Nawgong, has joined the list of leaders who have written to Congress Central Election Authority (CCEA) head Madhusudan Mistry about making the party’s electoral rolls public to ensure transparency in the presidential elections. “I have written a letter to the chairman of the Central Election Authority, requesting him to make the electoral rolls public to nail all apprehensions and ensure free and fair polls and transparency in the election process,” Bordoloi told The Indian Express on Thursday. The 64-year-old started his political career with the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students’ wing of the party. He was elected to the state Assembly from Margherita in Tinsukia district in 2001 and retained it in the following two polls. Between 2001 and 2015, Bordoloi served as a minister of state and then handled the power, industries and commerce, and public enterprises portfolios in the Tarun Gogoi government. After spending most of his political career in state politics, Bordoloi moved to national politics as the Congress lost power in the state. The 2019 Lok Sabha polls saw him defeating former MLA Rupak Sharma by more than 16,000 votes. In an interview with The Indian Express this March, when Parliament was in session, he spoke about drawing the Centre’s attention to the issue of land erosion along the Brahmaputra, saying that “a uniform policy does not work for every state, even though many states are affected by river bank erosion”. He added, “During the time of the UPA government, there was a plan — the flood management programme — by the Planning Commission. With the dismantling of the Planning Commission, the programme has also disappeared.” Last December, Bordoloi moved a private member’s Bill to demand a separate time zone for northeastern states. In an interview, the Congress leader said the “sun rises a few hours earlier” in the region and a separate time zone would help boost “productivity”. He added, “The British recognised this … there was a separate time zone for Assam back then.” Bordoloi has two sons and lives in Margherita with his family. He holds a postgraduate degree from the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi and also pursued a post-graduate diploma in marketing. In his last poll affidavit, he identified himself as a pensioner and a strategic business consultant.
