Trinamool fields Assam MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed for Mandia seat

The All India Trinamool Congress has fielded an Assam MLA who stirred a hornet’s nest by suggesting a Miya Museum at a cultural centre in Guwahati five years ago.

Sherman Ali Ahmed figured in the list of seven candidates announced by the Trinamool on Sunday (March 22, 2026). He is contesting from Mandia, a Muslim-dominated constituency in western Assam’s Barpeta district.

Controversy has followed Mr. Ahmed, a government officer-turned-politician known for speaking his mind.

He won his first election in 2011 from the now-defunct Baghbar constituency in Barpeta district as a candidate of the minority-based All India United Democratic Front. He later fell out with AIUDF chief and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal and won the next two elections from Baghbar as a candidate of the Indian National Congress.

Mr. Ahmed became a target for right-wing leaders after he proposed a Miya Museum at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in 2020. His troubles compounded after winning the 2021 polls, when the Congress suspended him for “repeatedly violating” party discipline.

In February, less than a month before the April 9 elections were announced, he joined the Raijor Dal, a party born out of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act stir in 2019 and espousing a blend of regionalism and Assamese nationalism. Raijor Dal promised him a ticket but backed out after striking a seat-sharing deal with the Congress.

“I owe an apology to Sherman Ali Ahmed. We are keen on fielding him, but Congress was against his nomination,” Raijor Dal president and Sibsagar MLA Akhil Gogoi said.

The Raijor Dal, however, fielded Abdur Rashid Mandal, who defected from the Congress along with Mr. Ahmed. Mr. Mandal is contesting the Goalpara East constituency.

“I am from Assam, but no party accepted me. I have joined the Trinamool with a heavy heart,” Mr. Ahmed said, thanking the party led by Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, for giving him a chance.

Trinamool leader and Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev defended his nomination. “We are contesting seats where we are stronger than other opposition candidates. Our agenda is to oust the BJP,” she told The Hindu.

“We are growing, and we did better in the Assam panchayat election than some of the alliance partners of Congress. We expect to do much better than the last Assembly elections,” she said.

Among the other candidates fielded by the Trinamool is Rojy Ahmed from the Hajo-Sualkuchi seat reserved for the Scheduled Castes. She is the wife of the party’s State general secretary, Dulu Ahmed, who opted out of the race for the Chamaria seat.