The Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad, the apex literary organisations of the sandbars in Assam, has urged the Congress and the AIUDF to jointly nominate a candidate from the sar-sapori (sandbars) areas of the state for the third Rajya Sabha seat.

The Parishad has also appealed to the 28 MLAs and two MPs belonging to sar-sapori areas and its community people, to take the issue seriously and to look into the matter, irrespective of political parties.

The sars are distributed along the Brahmaputra’s course from Sadiya in the east to Dhubri in the west. An estimated 2.5 million people reside in 299 gaon panchayats in the sar areas, most belonging to the minority community.

“The Char Sapori Sahitya Parisad, Assam, has noticed that from Independence, people of sar sapori areas are the permanent voters of the Congress. In the last Assembly polls too, these people voted for the Congress and have the maximum legislators from this community from the Congress. Till date, the Congress has never sent a person from the areas to Rajya Sabha,” the Parishad said in a statement signed by secretary Halim Khan Choudhury and media secretary Sultan Mehmood Mirdha on Tuesday.

The Parishad appealed that any person from the riverine areas or representing the community should be projected as the joint nominee for the third Rajya Sabha seat.

“For almost last a decade, AIUDF was seen doing politics with the voters of sar sapori people but never took any step to send a person to the Rajya Sabha. Therefore, we demand both the Opposition parties to send the president of the Char-Sapori Sahitya Parisad, Hafeez Ahmed, or any suitable person from the riverine areas or minority community who is working continuously for the greater interest of the Assamese community in terms of language, literature, culture and trying to establish harmony among various tribes of Assam,” it added.

Ahmed, confirming that he is interested to be nominated for the Rajya Sabha, said: “It is not about me, it is about the riverine people. They have been neglected in terms of education and development. Both the Congress and AIUDF have the highest number of legislators from this community and area. A non-political intellectual who hails from this community should be sent to Rajya Sabha which will put an end to the 70 years of negligence and deprivation.”

A Congress legislator on condition of anonymity told The Telegraph that he has sent a proposal to the party high command to send a non-political “minority community” person.

“To regain the lost trust of the minorities, the Congress should project a non-political anti-CAA, secular, minority and intellectual candidate for the Rajya Sabha,” he said.

A source also said some legislators from both the Congress and AIUDF are in favour of the proposals.

Another source said: “There is also a chance of horse trading and nothing will be shocking if all the three seats go to BJP and its allies in spite of not having its strength.”