Lok Sabha polls: 38 candidates file nomination for first phase in Assam

Altogether 38 candidates, including Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and senior Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, have filed their nominations for the first phase polls scheduled on April 19 in Assam, an election official said.

On the last day of filing of nominations on Wednesday, 26 people filed their papers and they include sitting BJP MP Topon Gogoi in Jorhat, Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa in Kaziranga and MLA Ranjit Dutta in Sonitpur.

The constituencies going to the polls in the first phase are Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur and Kaziranga.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accompanied Gogoi and Tasa during their nomination filing at Jorhat and Golaghat and exuded confidence that both the candidates would win their respective seats and help Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the nation for the third consecutive term.

He said that the massive support for Gogoi is reflective of the love and faith people have in the Prime Minister and 'I am sure that he will win by a margin of over three lakh votes."

Topon Gogoi's opponent in the constituency is the Lok Sabha Deputy leader of the opposition Gaurav Gogoi who filed his nomination on Tuesday.

Altogether five candidates filed their nominations in Jorhat and they include Arun Chandra Handique of the Sanatan Bharat Party and two independents Raj Kumar Duara and Baba Kurmi.

In Kaziranga, Tasa's fight will be against former MLA and Congress candidate Roselina Tirkey who filed her nominations on Tuesday.

Kaziranga, the erstwhile Kaliabor constituency which was renamed during the delimitation exercise in the state, has the highest number of 12 candidates with nine filing their nominations on the last day.

In Sonitpur, BJP MLA and former minister Ranjit Dutta also filed his nomination and was accompanied by state party president Bhabesh Kalita and AGP's Rajya Sabha MP Birendra Prasad Baishya.

Dutta's main rival will be Congress candidate Prem Lal Ganju who was the first to file his papers for the first phase of polls.

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Rishiraj Kaundilya, Voters Party International's (VPI) Kameshwar Swargiary, Bodo Peoples' Front's (BPF) Raju Deuri, Bahujan Maha Party's Md Alam Ali, Gana Sangram Parishad's Rinku Roy and independent Mahendra Orang also filed their nominations for the Sonitpur constituency on Wednesday.

Altogether nine candidates have filed their papers in Sonitpur including independent Raju Bhandari on Tuesday.

In Dibrugarh, three candidates have filed their papers with AAP candidate Manoj Dhanowar filing on the last day while Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal of BJP and Lurinjyot Gogoi of Assam Jatiya Parishad as the unified opposition candidate had filed their nominations on Tuesday.

In Lakhimpur, Congress candidate Uday Shankar Hazarika filed his nomination and he will battle it out with the sitting BJP MP Pradan Baruah who filed his papers on Tuesday.

Altogether nine candidates have filed their nominations for the Lakhimpur constituency.

The scrutiny will be held on March 28 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is March 30.

In the outgoing Lok Sabha, BJP held nine seats, Congress three, AIUDF and an independent one each from the state.