Nine candidates in Assam filed their nomination papers on Tuesday, taking the total number of nominees to 14 for the second phase of polls, which will cover five parliamentary constituencies in the state on April 26, an election official said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was present during the filing of nomination by BJP candidate Amarsingh Tisso for Diphu (ST) constituency.
Speaking on the occasion, CM Sarma said the elections this time was a formality to re-elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to ensure that the development work initiated by him continues.
He said the tribal areas of the state suffered from insurgency for decades but it was due to the PM’s initiative that violence has ended and development has taken place.
In Diphu (ST), two candidates filed their nominations so far with an independent submitting his papers earlier.
In Karimganj, AIUDF candidate Sahabul Alam Choudhury and independent aspirant Binoy Krishna Roy filed their nominations, bringing the total number of candidates in the constituency to four.
Previously, SUCI(C)’s Prajwal Sudip Dev and independent candidate Dilip Kumar had also submitted their papers.
In Silchar (SC), three more candidates filed their nominations. They are SUCI(C)’s Provas Chandra Sarkar, Bangali Nabonirma Sena’s Barindra Kumar Das and independent Raju Das.
Former Lok Sabha MP Radhey Shyam Biswas of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) submitted his nomination for the Silchar constituency on Monday, taking the total number of candidates to four.
In Nagaon, two independent candidates, Abu Shama and Sikha Sarma, filed their nominations, while Saiful Islam Chowdhury of Asom Jana Morcha submitted his papers on Monday, taking the total to three aspirants so far.
In Darrang-Udalguri, Lalit Pegu of Voters Party International (VPI) submitted his nomination during the day.
Overall, the total number of nominations filed for the second phase polls, covering Nagaon, Darrang-Udalguri, Diphu (ST), Silchar (SC), and Karimganj, stands at 14.
The prominent candidates to contest in the second phase are Congress sitting MP Pradyut Bordoloi from Nagaon against BJP’s Suresh Bora and AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam.
BJP sitting MP Dilip Saikia has been pitted against Congress candidate Madhab Rajbongshi in Darrang-Udalguri.
In Silchar (SC), Assam Excise Minister Parimal Suklabaidya is the BJP candidate and he will take on Congress youth leader and district general secretary Surjya Kanta Sarkar.
In Karimganj, sitting BJP MP Kripanath Mallah will take on Congress candidate Hafez Ahmed Choudhury and AIUDF’s Sahabul Islam Choudhury.
The last date for filing of nominations is April 4, scrutiny on April 5 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 8.
In the first phase, 35 candidates are in the fray for the Kaziranga, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur constituencies.
In the outgoing Lok Sabha, BJP held nine seats, Congress three, AIUDF and an independent one from the state.
