Nagaon bypoll ends with 76 per cent turnout; final figure likely to rise

Polling for the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election in Assam ended peacefully at 5 pm on October 6, with around 76 per cent of the 19.05 lakh electors casting their votes, an election official said.

The final turnout figure is expected to rise as voters who had entered polling stations before the closure of voting were allowed to exercise their franchise.

Voting began at 7 am across the constituency, which comprises eight Assembly segments. The bypoll was necessitated after former Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the Lok Sabha and later successfully contested the Assam Assembly election from Dispur on a BJP ticket.

The contest featured 15 candidates, with the principal fight involving BJP's Devashish Sharma, Congress' Sibamoni Bora and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal.

The polling process had remained largely peaceful, though opposition parties raised allegations of irregularities at some locations during the day. Congress leader and Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain later alleged that unidentified people had entered several polling stations in the Samaguri segment and accused the BJP of attempting to rig the election. The allegations were not independently established.

The counting of votes is scheduled for October 9.