BJP leads in one Assam seat, AIUDF in two

The AIUDF was leading in two Assam assembly seats where bypoll was held while the BJP was leading in a third constituency Tuesday.

The AIUDF was leading in Lakhipur with over 4,000 votes while the BJP candidate was in the lead in Silchar assembly seat with a margin of about 3,500 votes. In Jamunamukh seat, the AIUDF candidate was in the lead with over 8,000 votes.

The counting, which began early Tuesday, will decide the fate of 25 candidates who are in the electoral fray this time in the three constituencies.

While there are 12 candidates contesting for the Silchar Legislative assembly constituency, five candidates are contesting for the Lakhipur assembly constituency. For Jamunamukh assembly constituency, there are eight candidates in the fray.

There were a total of 509,689 electors, including 244,543 women, eligible voters in the three constituencies. Besides, there are another 1,456 service voters in the three legislative assembly constituencies.

The voter turnout Saturday was a little over 67 percent polling.

Assam's Deputy Chief Electoral Officer P K Doley said Tuesday: "The counting has started in three counting halls under two counting centres and we expect to complete the counting by 2 p.m."

The concerned district administration have arranged for tight security in and around the counting halls to ensure smooth counting.

Arun Dutta Majumdar (Congress), Dilip Kumar Paul (BJP) and Nur Ahmed Barbhuyan (AIUDF) are among the prominent contestants in Silchar, former Congress lawmaker Dinesh Prasad Goala's son Rajdeep Goala (Congress), Mukesh Pandey (AIUDF) and Sanjay Thakur (BJP) are notable candidates in Lakhipur constituency.

In the Jamunamukh constituency, AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal's son Abdur Rahim Ajmal is one of the prominent candidates against Bashir Uddin Laskar of Congress and Bilal Uddin (BJP).

The bypoll for Silchar constituency was necessitated after Congress legislator Sushmita Dev's election to the Lok Sabha, while the Jamunamukh seat was vacated by AIUDF leader Sirajuddin Ajmal after he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Barpeta.

The Lakhipur seat, however, fell vacant after the death of sitting legislator and former minister Dinesh Prasad Goala.