Image for the purpose of representation.
| Photo Credit: File
GUWAHATIThe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated former IAS officer Devasish Sharma as its candidate for the Nagaon Lok Sabha byelection on October 6, 2026.Mr. Sharma had stoked controversy before opting for voluntary retirement as the Nagaon District Commissioner on September 3 and joining the BJP on Tuesday (September 8, 2026). The Nagaon parliamentary constituency covers Morigaon district and five of Nagaon district’s seven Assembly segments.The Nagaon Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Pradyut Bordoloi, who won in 2019 and 2024 as a Congress candidate, resigned ahead of the April 9, 2026, Assembly elections and joined the BJP. He now represents the BJP from the Dispur Assembly constituency.On September 4, 2026, Congress leader and Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain approached the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking an inquiry into complaints of financial irregularities during his stint as the Nagaon District Commissioner.Referring to his earlier complaints between August 28 and September 3, Mr. Hussain questioned Mr. Sharma’s alleged political neutrality and asked whether his role as Nagaon’s District Election Officer could be affected by joining a political party.“If Devasish Sharma had already decided to contest as a BJP candidate, he should never have served as the (Nagaon) District Election Officer,” Assam Congress president and Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi said a few days ago, adding that the development was “nothing short of fraud”.The BJP defended Mr. Sharma’s nomination, asserting that there was nothing wrong with a bureaucrat joining the party after the government okays his voluntary retirement. The government accepted his retirement request on September 3.Guitar glamourMr. Sharma has been known to strum the guitar and belt out songs in public. As the Morigaon District Commissioner, he entertained polling teams that reached the strong room past midnight after the second phase of polling for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections ended.According to his acquaintances, he was seen playing the guitar and singing frequently at public and private functions in Nagaon before opting for voluntary retirement.The guitar-playing was reminiscent of another officer with the Nagaon connection who joined the BJP and became the party’s representative from the Buxar Assembly seat in Bihar.Former IPS officer Anand Mishra served as the Nagaon Superintendent of Police until his transfer to Lakhimpur district in 2022. He resigned in January 2024 to eventually contest the 2025 Bihar Assembly election.Mr. Mishra was active on social media, posting videos of his guitar sessions while serving as the police chief of Nagaon and Lakhimpur districts. Published - September 11, 2026 02:44 pm IST
