Nagaon Bypoll: Voting underway as 19 lakh voters cast ballots across 2,112 booths

Voting began at 7 am on Tuesday, October 6 for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam, with polling underway across 2,112 polling stations, including five auxiliary booths, five model polling stations and 335 women-managed booths. Voting will continue until 5 pm.

A total of 19,02,009 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the by-election, including 9,58,595 men, 9,43,364 women and 50 third-gender voters. Fifteen candidates are contesting the seat.

The Nagaon and Morigaon district administrations have deployed around 9,664 polling personnel to conduct the election. The arrangements also include 86 micro-observers and 69 Flying Squad Teams (FSTs) and 69 Static Surveillance Teams (SSTs). Webcasting has been arranged at all polling stations to monitor the polling process.

The bypoll has brought the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress into a direct contest in a constituency that has traditionally witnessed a close electoral battle. The BJP is seeking to wrest the seat from Congress following the resignation of Pradyut Bordoloi, who previously represented Nagaon and has since aligned himself with the BJP.

The BJP has fielded Debashish Sharma, a former Nagaon district commissioner who joined electoral politics after retiring from government service. He is facing Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora, a former legislator from the now-redrawn Batadroba constituency.

All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief and sitting Binnakandi MLA Badruddin Ajmal is also contesting the bypoll. Ajmal, a former Lok Sabha member from Dhubri, is seeking a return to the Lower House.