Guwahati: Former Assam chief minister and veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi on Saturday said former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi might well be the chief ministerial candidate for the BJP in Assam in next year’s assembly polls.

“I have heard from my sources that Ranjan Gogoi’s name is there in the list of the BJP’s candidates for the chief minister’s post. I suspect he might be projected for the next possible chief ministerial candidate for Assam,” Gogoi told the media here.

Gogoi who served as the 46th Chief Justice of India for 13 months between 2018 and 2019 was nominated to Rajya Sabha by President Ram Nath Kovind on 16 March 2020.

Tarun Gogoi said if the former CJI could go to Rajya Sabha, he might agree to be the next ‘prospective’ CM candidate of the BJP as well.

“It is all about politics. BJP was happy with Ranjan Gogoi over Ayodhya Ram Mandir case judgment. Then he gradually entered politics, step by step, by accepting the Rajya Sabha nomination. Why did he not refuse the Rajya Sabha membership? He could have easily been chairman of the human rights commission or other rights organisations. He has political ambition and that’s why he accepted the nomination,” Gogoi said.

According to a report on Times of India, the former chief minister also announced that he is not going to be the next ‘prospective’ CM candidate of the Congress in Assam. He has been advocating to form a ‘grand alliance’ including Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Left and regional parties to uproot BJP from power.

“I am not going to be the chief minister of the state. I would like to be a guiding force or act as an advisor. There are several qualified candidates in Congress who can take charge,” Gogoi added.

He said that only a common candidate from the possible alliance should be projected as the chief ministerial candidate.