Days after vacating DC post, IAS officer gets BJP ticket to contest Nagaon bypoll

A week after he resigned as Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Assam’s Nagaon district, the BJP announced Devashish Sharma as its candidate for the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-poll next month.

On the nomination, BJP Assam spokesperson Rupam Goswami said, “Sharma is a good bureaucrat. Social service is ingrained in him. The BJP always supports these kinds of people. He likes being among the people and is liked and respected by all.”

An IAS officer from the 2011 Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Sharma was posted as DC Nagaon in June 2025. He is regarded as an approachable and fair administrator, and is popular across different communities in this sensitive district.

Before being posted as DC Nagaon, the officer served as Deputy Commissioner in the neighbouring district of Morigaon, also part of the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency. The 59-year-old enjoyed a similarly good reputation here as well.

Sharma has also served as the Deputy Resident Commissioner of the Assam Bhawan in Mumbai. His efforts to assist cancer patients who arrived there from Assam for treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital made him a popular figure.

On September 3, Sharma took voluntary retirement from the service, and just days later, on September 8, joined the BJP.

Congress had criticised the move, with its Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain writing to the Election Commission of India requesting a review of decisions taken during Sharma’s tenure.

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“As DC-cum-DEO [District Election Officer], Sharma was associated with and responsible for several sensitive aspects of the election process, including election preparedness, EVM management, polling arrangements, deployment of personnel, transportation, election materials, administrative coordination and implementation of the directions of the Election Commission,” Hussain wrote.

“In view of the circumstances now emerging, I respectfully request that the Hon’ble Commission review and scrutinise all material election-related decisions and actions taken during his tenure, particularly those which could have any bearing upon the forthcoming election,” the Congress MP added.

Sharma did not respond to calls from The Indian Express.

The Muslim-majority constituency of Nagaon, located in Central Assam, has been with the Congress for the past ten years. However, in a political twist earlier this year, the three-term Congress MP here, Pradyut Bordoloi, quit the party shortly before the election and joined the BJP. He contested from the Dispur constituency and won. The developments necessitated a by-poll for Nagaon.

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Assam has a total of 14 Lok Sabha constituencies. Of them, the BJP won 11, its allies won two, and the Congress won three in the last polls, conducted earlier this year.