Assam: No nomination filed for first phase LS polls as of March 21

No nomination was filed by any candidate on Thursday for the first phase of polls to five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam scheduled to be held on April 19, an election commission official said.

Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur constituencies will go to the polls during the first phase of polls in the state.

The election commission issued the notification for the first phase of the elections on Wednesday.

The Elections to the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam will be held in three phases on April 19, 26 and May 7.

Five constituencies each will go to the polls in the first and second phases, while in the third, polling will be held in four seats.

The last date for filing nominations is March 27, scrutiny of nominations will be on March 28, and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is March 30 for the first phase.

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BJP candidate and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, contesting from the prestigious Dibrugarh constituency and deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, contesting from Nagaon, are likely to file their nomination papers on March 26, party sources said.

In Dibrugarh, Sonowal will contest against the United Opposition Front of Assam (UOFA’s) candidate Lurinjyoti Gogoi, while in Jorhat, Gaurav Gogoi will fight against sitting BJP MP Topon Gogoi.

In Kaziranga, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa has been pitted against former Congress MLA Roselina Tirkey.

The other prominent contesting candidates are sitting BJP MP Pradan Baruah in Lakhimpur and the party’s sitting Behali MLA Ranjit Dutta in Sonitpur.

The counting of votes for all seats will take place on June 4.

In the outgoing house, BJP held nine seats, Congress three, AIUDF and an independent one each from the state.