Guwahati: As the nomination process for the Assam Assembly by-elections concluded on Friday, a total of 38 candidates have entered the fray across five constituencies, with 24 nominees submitting their papers on the last day.
The by-elections are scheduled for November 13, with vote counting set for November 23.
The Election Commission received three nominations for Dholai, one for Sidli, five for Bongaigaon, twelve for Samaguri, and three for Behali on the final day.
Notable candidates include BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarma in Samaguri, AGP’s Diptimoy Choudhury in Bongaigaon, Congress’s Jayata Bora in Behali, and Bodo People’s Front’s Suddho Kumar Basumatary in Sidli.
The BJP is contesting three of the five constituencies — Behali, Samaguri, and Dholai — while its alliance partners AGP and UPPL are fielding candidates in Bongaigaon and Sidli, respectively. Meanwhile, the Congress has announced candidates for all five seats, positioning itself for a comprehensive contest.
The by-elections were triggered after several sitting MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year. Among them was Rakibul Hussain, who vacated the Samaguri seat after winning the Dhubri parliamentary constituency by a record margin.
Similarly, Dholai’s former BJP MLA Parimal Suklabaidya, who was elected to the Silchar Lok Sabha seat, and Ranjit Dutta from Behali, who secured the Sonitpur constituency, also created vacancies. AGP’s Phanibhushan Choudhury and UPPL’s Joyanta Basumatary left their posts after being elected to the Barpeta and Kokrajhar parliamentary seats, respectively.
The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 28, and the deadline for withdrawing nominations is October 30. With key political parties fielding their candidates, the by-elections are anticipated to be a close contest in all five constituencies.