Election Commission Issues Notification For Five LS Seats in Assam; Battle Lines Drawn

GUWAHATI: With the issue of Election Commission notification for the second-phase Parliamentary polls in Assam, the battle lines have been drawn among the political parties in the State. The Phase-II notification issued on Monday is for five Lok Sabha seats. These are Karimganj, Silchar, Autonomous District (Diphu), Mangaldoi, and Nowgong.

The last date for filing of nomination is March 26 while scrutiny of the nominations will be done on March 27. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 29. The election will be held on April 18 and the counting of votes will be carried out on May 23.

On Sunday, notification for the first phase of Parliamentary polls was issued for five other seats. Those were Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaliabor, Lakhimpur, and Tezpur. The election for these five seats (Phase-I) will be held on April 11

Meanwhile, the central election committee of the Congress has already declared candidates for 10 LS seats in Assam. The candidates are Biren Singh Engti for Autonomous District (Diphu), Bhubaneswar Kalita for Mangaldoi, MGVK Bhanu for Tezpur, Pradyut Bordoloi for Nowgong, Anil Borgohain for Lakhimpur, Swarup Das (Karimganj), Sushmita Dev (Silchar), Gaurav Gogoi (Kaliabor), Sushanta Borgohain (Jorhat) and Paban Singh Ghatowar (Dibrugarh).

On the other hand, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is expected to finalize its list of candidates within a day or two. The BJP has left three LS seats – Kaliabor, Dhubri, and Barpeta to the AGP. Sources informed that from Kaliabor, the AGP may field Moni Madhab Mahanta — former AASU vice-president and brother of AGP working president Keshab Mahanta. Moni will join the regional party formally on Wednesday. From Dhubri, it might field former MLA Javed Islam while from Barpeta, the AGP might offer its candidature to either former Rajya Sabha MP Kumar Dipak Das or former MLA Bhupen Rai.

Another ally of the ruling dispensation in Assam, the BPF has already announced the name of Minister Pramila Rani Brahma as its candidate from Kokrajhar.

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