Express News Service
GUWAHATI: A former Assam MLA has been hospitalised hours after his nomination for Assembly elections was rejected.
Alok Kumar Ghosh, who had earlier suffered heart-related ailments, has got an implanted pacemaker.
Ghose, who served as an MLA for two years after winning a by-election in 2004, had filed his nomination from the Mariani seat as a candidate of newly-floated Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP).
Two pages of the nomination were apparently found missing by the Returning Officer.
The 62-year-old Ghose, a party hopper, was with the ruling BJP. He wanted to contest as its candidate but was denied a ticket at the last moment. This made him join the AJP and contest the elections on its ticket.
He has, so far, contested five Assembly elections, including the by-election, and his supporters sniffed a conspiracy.
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Ghose narrowly lost the past elections to the Congress’s Rupjyoti Kurmi, who has held the seat for three straight terms. His chances have brightened overnight as Ghose is not in the poll fray. BJP and Raijor Dal are also contesting from the seat in Upper Assam’s Jorhat district.
Ghose was rushed to a hospital in Jorhat on Thursday morning after he had complained of chest pain. Later, he was shifted to Guwahati. He has been suffering from cardiac ailments for some time.
Widely known for philanthropy, he had offered cooked food to hundreds and thousands of the poor, including beggars, during the difficult months of COVID-19 pandemic. He had offered ration too.
Ghose, a businessman, runs a “NaMo Canteen” in Mariani, a railway township. It serves one complete vegetarian meal to some 300 poor people on an average every day. The daily wagers are charged Rs 8 per meal while the beggars relish it for free.
