56 nominations found valid for second phase of Assam LS polls

A total of 56 nominations for the second phase of polling in five Lok Sabha seats in Assam were found to be valid after scrutiny, an election official said on Wednesday.

Altogether 60 candidates submitted their papers for the five seats in Assam till Tuesday, the last date for filling of nominations for the second phase.

A spokesperson of the Election Commission said that nominations of Ratul Ahmed from Republican Party of India (A) and Bhupen Chandra Das from Purbanchal Janata Party (Secular) were turned down in the Mangaldoi constituency.

The nominations of NPP's Dewan Rongpi in Autonomous District seat and Voter's Party International's Golapi Saikia in the Nowgong constituency have also been rejected, he said.

Earlier, nominations of 43 candidates were found valid for the first phase of polling in five constituencies.

The three-phase polls in Assam will take place on April 11, 18 and 23, while counting of votes will be on May 23.

For the first phase, the EC fixed March 28 as the last date of withdrawal, while it is March 29 for the second phase.

Regarding the third phase, the notification will be issued on March 28 and the EC has fixed April 4 as the last date of nominations, April 5 for scrutiny and April 8 for last date of withdrawal.

As per the last summary revision, over 2.17 crore voters, including at least 7.06 lakh first timers, will exercise their franchise in the elections to elect 14 members to the Lok Sabha from Assam.

In 2014, the BJP won seven out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the Congress and the AIUDF had three MPs each and one member was an independent.