Assam Bypolls LIVE UPDATES: Voting Begins In Five Assembly Seats
Altogether 34 candidates are in the fray with most of them being first-timers, according to the Election Commission of India.
Assam By polls LIVE UPDATES- Voting for by-elections to Assam’s five assembly constituencies Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri began on Wednesday. These seats fell vacant with their MLAs winning the Lok Sabha elections.
Voting began at 7 AM and is scheduled to conclude at 5 PM. Altogether 34 candidates are in the fray with most of them being first-timers, according to the Election Commission of India.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to the people of Behali, Samaguri, Dholai, Bongaigaon and Sidli to come out and actively take part in the bypolls.
LIVE UPDATES-
- Voting is going on peacefully so far and no any adverse report.
- Over 30 per cent of 9.1 lakh electors cast their votes in the first four hours of polling on Wednesday during by-elections to five assembly constituencies in Assam, according to official data.
Approximate Voter Turnout Trend By 11. am
Bongaigaon= 32.90%
Dholai= 24.65%
Behali= 30.40%
Sidli= 32.20%
Samaguri= 31.65%
- Around 9,000 polling personnel have been engaged to ensure smooth elections across 1,078 centres in the five seats, where more than nine lakh electors are registered to cast their votes.
- A total of 13 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), comprising about 1,300 personnel, have been deployed for the by-elections, Goel said.
“To have a fair election, we will have webcasting in 55 per cent of the polling booths. The remaining booths that will not be covered by webcasting will be physically monitored by micro observers, who are central government employees” he added.
Clashes between BJP and Congress supporters have been reported almost on a daily basis in Samaguri since the bypoll was announced. A number of complaints have been filed by both sides before the Election Commission.
In Samaguri, the Congress has fielded Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain’s son Tanzil against Diplu Ranjan Sarma of BJP.
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Hussain, who won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat by a record margin of over 10.12 lakh votes, was the MLA of Samaguri for five consecutive terms before becoming a parliamentarian.
This bypoll also cracked the 16-party opposition alliance in Assam over the candidate selection for Behali with Congress deciding to field its own nominee at the last moment, disagreeing with the bloc’s resolution to leave the seat for CPI(ML) Liberation.
In Dholai in Barak valley, BJP candidate Nihar Ranjan Dasis is likely to face a tough challenge from Congress candidate Dhrubajyoti Purkayastha.
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The contest in Sidli in Bodoland Territorial Region has reached an interesting point with Congress putting up a candidate after more than 20 years.
A three-cornered fight is in the offing between Sanjib Warie of Congress, Nirmal Kumar Brahma of United People’s Party Liberal and Suddho Kumar Basumatary of Bodoland People’s Front.
Of these five seats, only one was with the Congress, while the remaining four were represented by the BJP-led alliance.
