Phase-II in for a close fight with fifty candidates battling for five Lok Sabha seats

LS poll

Fifty candidates to vie for five seats

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Fifty candidates are to vie for five Lok Sabha seats which are going to poll on April 18 in the second phase in Assam. As many as 60 candidates filed their nomination papers for the five seats. While four of the nominations were rejected during the scrutiny on March 27, six withdrew their candidatures on Friday, the last date of withdrawal.

The five constituencies that are going to poll in the second phase on April 18 are Karimganj with 14 candidates in poll fray, Silchar with 13 candidates in fray, Autonomous Districts with five candidates in fray, Mangaldoi with 11 candidates in fray and Nagaon with seven candidates in fray.

While the gossip mill suggests a direct showdown between the BJP-led alliance and the Congress in four of the five seats, the Karimganj seat is likely to have a triangular contest amongst the BJP, the AIUDF and the Congress. A one-to-one fight is on the cards between sitting MP Sushmita Dev of the Congress and Rajdeep Roy of the BJP for the Silchar seat, the Autonomous Districts seat is set for such a contest between BJP’s Haren Sing Bey and Congress’ sitting MP Biren Sing Ingti. Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneswar Kalita is locked in a direct fight with BJP’s Dilip Saikia in Mangaldoi constituency where UPPL (United People’s Party Liberal) candidate Prodeep Kumar Daimary also does not seem to be a force to reckon with. Rupak Sarma of the BJP and Congress’ Pradyut Bordoloi are set for a straight fight in Nagaon. Locked in a triangular contest in Karimganj are BJP’s Kripanath Mallah (Deputy Speaker), AUIDF’s sitting MP Radheshyam Biswas and Congress’ Swarup Das.

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