Young candidates take on the polls in Assam

Candidates in the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls in Assam are a young lot with 26 of the 88 in fray in their 30s, 24 in their 40s and only two above the age of 80.
There are three candidates in their 20s, 19 in 50s, nine in 60s and five in their 70s, according to the nomination details filed by the candidates.
Two former Union ministers - Congress' Bijoy Krishna Handique, contesting to retain the Jorhat constituency for the seventh consecutive term, and BJP's Kabindra Purkayastha fighting to retain the seat for the third term - are the senior-most candidates in the fray at 82.

Among Congress candidates, sitting MPs from Karimganj Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya at 72 and Autonomous District's Biren Singh Engti at 74 are next in seniority while Union Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar follows at 62.
The BJP has no candidates in their 70s or 60s, but has three candidates in their 50s - state unit president Sarbananda Sonowal at 52 from Lakhimpur, Autonomous Districts' Joyram Engleng at 54 and Tezpur's Ram Prasad Sarmah at 58 while Union Minister Ranee Narah at 50, contesting from Lakhimpur is the only candidate of the Congress in this age group.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's son, Gourav Gogoi, making his electoral debut from Koliabor is the youngest party candidate at 31 while for the BJP it is the firebrand tea workers' leader 38-year-old Kamakhya Prasad Tasa from Jorhat.

The AGP, which initially consolidated itself as a youth party, has no contestants in the 20s or 30s with their youngest candidate being former ULFA militant 44-year-old Hari Prasad Dihingiya from Lakhimpur.
AGP has two contestants in the seventies - Rabindranath Choudhury (74) from Karimganj and Bijoy Krishna Nath (70) from Silchar. Its sitting Tezpur MLA Joseph Toppo is 65, while former state minister Prodip Hazarika is 61.