Devasish Sharma Makes Electoral Debut As BJP Candidate For Nagaon Lok Sabha Bypoll

Former Nagaon deputy commissioner Devasish Sharma has been named the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled for October 6. Sharma, who resigned from the Indian Administrative Service earlier this month, will enter electoral politics shortly after leaving the civil services. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh announced on Friday that the party's central election committee had approved Sharma's candidature for the bypoll. The Nagaon Lok Sabha seat fell vacant earlier this year after Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned in March and joined the BJP ahead of the Assam Assembly elections. Bordoloi subsequently contested the Dispur Assembly constituency in Guwahati as a BJP candidate and won the election.

His departure from the Lok Sabha triggered the need for a bypoll, with the Election Commission scheduling voting for October 6. Sharma's selection comes just days after his transition from administration to active politics. He resigned from government service on September 3 and joined the BJP on September 8. His candidature therefore marks a rapid move from a senior administrative position in Nagaon district to the electoral arena. The BJP has now formally placed him in the contest for the parliamentary seat, setting up a bypoll that is expected to attract considerable political attention in Assam.

Sharma has had a long career in the state administration. He joined the Assam Civil Service in 1992 and was subsequently inducted into the Indian Administrative Service, where he was allotted the 2011 batch. Before becoming Nagaon's deputy commissioner, Sharma served as deputy commissioner of neighbouring Morigaon district. He was transferred to Nagaon in June last year, placing him in charge of the district administration before his resignation from the service. His recent administrative role in Nagaon gives Sharma an existing association with the constituency as he begins his political career. As deputy commissioner, he was responsible for district-level administration and governance before leaving the service.

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The BJP's decision to nominate a former district administrator comes shortly after his resignation and party entry, making his transition from bureaucracy to electoral politics a key feature of the bypoll contest. The Nagaon bypoll will take place against the backdrop of recent political realignments in Assam. Bordoloi's move from Congress to the BJP and his subsequent victory from Dispur changed the political circumstances surrounding the Nagaon seat. Sharma's nomination now gives the BJP a candidate with a recent administrative connection to the district.

The contest will also be watched amid Congress demands for an Election Commission probe, adding another political dimension to the upcoming election. With polling scheduled for October 6, the BJP's announcement sets the stage for a fresh electoral contest in Nagaon. Sharma's recent resignation from the IAS, his entry into the BJP and his selection as the party's Lok Sabha candidate have occurred within a matter of days. The bypoll will determine who fills the parliamentary seat left vacant by Bordoloi's resignation and will provide another test of the political balance in Assam ahead of the election.

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