Days after quitting IAS, Debashish Sharma gets BJP ticket for Assam Lok Sabha bypoll

The BJP on Friday named former IAS officer Debashish Sharma as its candidate for the bypoll for the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam. The by-election will be held on October 6 and the counting of votes will take place on October 9.Sharma took voluntary retirement from service on September 3 while serving as the Nagaon District Commissioner. He joined the BJP on September 8 and was given the party ticket two days later to contest the seat.The Nagaon seat fell vacant after Pradyut Bordoloi, who had won the constituency on a Congress ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, later joined the BJP and won from Dispur in the recent Assembly polls.Last week, Congress MP Rakibul Hussain filed a complaint with the Assam Chief Electoral Officer seeking a review of various decisions taken during Sharma's tenure as Nagaon District Commissioner and demanding appropriate action against him. The Chief Electoral Officer's office forwarded the complaint to the Election Commission for necessary action and instructions. An English literature graduate and a postgraduate in public relations, Sharma joined the Assam Civil Services in 1992 and was first posted in Barpeta. He served as Special Officer to the then Assam Governor, Lt Gen SK Sinha, and as Deputy Resident Commissioner of the Assam Bhawan in Mumbai, where he represented the state government in Maharashtra.He also served as Commissioner of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation and District Commissioner of Morigaon before being transferred to Nagaon, from where he took voluntary retirement. Sharma is also the founding chairman and trustee of the cancer care organisation Deepshikha. With Sharma now in the fray, the BJP has formally named its candidate for the Nagaon bypoll, which was triggered by Bordoloi vacating the Lok Sabha seat after his Assembly election win from Dispur.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 11, 2026 14:53 IST