Mangaldai Legislative Assembly Constituencies (LAC): A key battle in central Assam

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MANGALDAI: Reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) since 1976, the Mangaldai LAC was de-reserved following the recent delimitation exercise. This marks its first election as a general (unreserved) seat after nearly five decades, significantly altering its geopolitical dynamics.

In the upcoming Assam Assembly election, six candidates, all of them new faces, are contesting from this constituency. They are Nilima Devi (BJP), Rijumoni Talukdar (INC), Azizur Rahman (AIUDF), Harekrishna Deka (TMC), Ajit Acharya (SUCI-Communist), and Prabin Kumar Deka (Independent).

While all contenders have been actively campaigning over the past ten days, the real contest appears to be shaping up between the two major parties-BJP and Congress-with Nilima Devi and Rijumoni Talukdar emerging as the frontrunners.

The BJP has pulled out all stops for Nilima Devi. Star campaigners, including Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, and Assam BJP President Dilip Saikia, have addressed rallies in the constituency. Nilima Devi herself has been conducting intensive door-to-door and booth-level campaigns day and night, backed by a strong network of party workers from the district, mandal, and grassroots levels.

In contrast, the Congress did not deploy any prominent star campaigner for Rijumoni Talukdar. However, the candidate has been far from idle. Instead of large public meetings, Talukdar has focused on a more personal outreach strategy-visiting every nook and corner of the constituency through small rallies, interactions at religious institutions, and extensive house-to-house campaigns to connect directly with voters.

According to the latest electoral rolls, Mangaldai has a total of 2,01,732 voters, comprising 1,01,740 males, 99,989 females, and a small number of third-gender electors. Demographically, the electorate includes approximately 1,22,000 Hindu voters (including around 30,000 from linguistic minority communities) and nearly 78,000 Muslim voters.   

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