Nagaon Bypoll: "100 per cent she will win", says Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora’s daughter

Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora’s daughter has expressed confidence in her mother’s victory in the Nagaon by-election, citing the public response witnessed during the campaign and the candidate’s sustained efforts across the constituency.

Speaking about her mother’s campaign, she said the family was “100 per cent” confident of Sibamoni Bora’s victory and expected her to win by a substantial margin.

“I have seen my mother working hard. As a family, we are very confident of her win. I have been part of my mother’s poll campaign throughout and was involved from the beginning,” she said.

She said her participation in the campaign gave her an opportunity to visit different parts of the constituency and observe the response among voters.

“I have seen the ground reality. A huge number of people came out in support of my mother. We visited all places and saw the enthusiasm and support for her,” she said.

Sibamoni Bora, a former Block Development Officer (BDO), made her electoral debut in the 2021 Assam Assembly elections and emerged as one of Congress' notable winners that year. Contesting from Batadroba, she defeated sitting BJP MLA and actor-turned-politician Angoorlata Deka by 32,820 votes.

Bora polled 84,278 votes, securing around 60 per cent of the votes in the constituency and delivering a significant victory for the Congress in a seat that had been represented by Deka.

A postgraduate, Bora had entered electoral politics after serving as a government official. Her administrative background and political lineage have remained important parts of her public profile.

Bora comes from a politically influential family in Assam. She is the daughter of Kiran Bora, who had earlier represented Batadroba in the state Assembly. She is also the daughter-in-law of Golap Borbora, Assam's first non-Congress chief minister.

Her 2021 victory marked the beginning of her own electoral career, with Bora defeating Deka in a closely watched contest. She subsequently represented Congress in the 15th Assam Legislative Assembly.

However, the political map of the area changed following the 2023 delimitation exercise, under which the erstwhile Batadroba Assembly constituency was abolished. The area was incorporated into the Nagaon-Batadraba Assembly constituency.

Polling began across the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency at 7 am on October 6 and will continue until 5 pm. A total of 19,02,009 voters are eligible to cast their ballots across 2,112 polling stations, including five auxiliary polling stations, five model polling stations and 335 women-managed booths.

Webcasting has been arranged at all polling stations to enable real-time monitoring of the electoral process.

The by-election has turned into a three-way contest between BJP candidate Devashish Sharma, Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal.

Sharma, a former Nagaon district commissioner, took voluntary retirement from the civil services before entering electoral politics and is making his electoral debut. Bora is a former legislator from the erstwhile Batadroba constituency, while Ajmal, the sitting Binnakandi MLA, is seeking a return to Parliament.

The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of former Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi from the Lok Sabha. Bordoloi later joined the BJP and contested the Dispur Assembly seat, which he won.

Of the total electorate, 9,58,595 are men, 9,43,364 are women and 50 are third-gender voters.

The Nagaon and Morigaon district administrations have deployed extensive arrangements for the conduct of a free, fair and secure election. A total of 9,664 polling personnel have been deployed, along with 86 micro-observers, 69 Flying Squad Teams and 69 Static Surveillance Teams.

Voting through postal ballots from home for eligible voters aged above 85 and persons with disabilities had already been completed under Section 60(C) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The outcome of the bypoll will determine the new representative of the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency amid a closely watched contest between the BJP, Congress and AIUDF.