The BJP and Congress are trying to woo the 32,000 tea voters ahead of the bypoll to the Ratabari (SC) Assembly constituency in Barak Valley.

Besides Ratabari, bypolls will be held in three Assembly constituencies — Rangapara, Sonari and Jania — on Monday.

Four candidates who are in the fray for Ratabari are the BJP’s Bijoy Malakar, Congress’s Keshab Prasad Rajak, Birendra Rabidas of Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) and Independent candidate Parikshit Roy.

Barring Jania, all the three constituencies are dominated by the tea community. Rangapara and Ratabari were represented by Pallab Lochan Das and Kripanath Mallah, two tea community leaders, till they were elected to the Lok Sabha. While the Congress has fielded tea-garden community candidates in the three Assembly constituencies except Jania, the BJP has not fielded any from the community.

However, in Ratabari, both the parties are targeting the 32,000 tea garden voters across the 19 tea estates.

The convener of campaign committee of Congress, Sanjeev Roy, said they are confident of winning this seat because the BJP has failed to keep its promises. “The BJP has dishonoured the sentiments of local tea garden people and fielded a candidate from outside Ratabari. Our candidate is from tea community. People will definitely reject the ‘chalani’,” (imported),” he said.

The BJP’s campaign is full of rallies of heavy weights. Cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addressed seven rallies, mainly in tea garden areas, during his two-day visit in Ratabari on Tuesday and Wednesday. He held discussion with the garden panchayats in the 19 gardens.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal also campaigned and assured people to make Sonbeel a tourist hotspot. Minister Naba Doley and deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar also campaigned for the party in various places of the constituency on Thursday.

Besides the tea community, the BJP also trying to woo the 75,000 Hindu-Bengali voters assuring them to bring the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in November. Malakar is confident of winning the seat capitalising on the various schemes and facilities announced for the tea community.

Congress leaders Ripun Bora, Pradyut Bordoloi, Kamalakshya Dey Purkayastha and leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia also campaigned in the garden areas of Ratabari.

The total voters of Ratabari is 1,61,732 voters.