Guwahati, 15 October (HS): The Election Commission has announced the schedule of by-elections in five assembly constituencies of Assam on Tuesday. According to the schedule, by-elections will be held in Bongaigaon, Sidli, Bihali, Samguri and Dholai assembly constituencies on November 13.
Counting of votes will be done on November 23.
The notification of the election will be issued on October 18, whereas, the last date for filing nomination papers will be October 25. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on October 28. Candidates will be able to withdraw their nomination papers till October 30.
It is worth mentioning that in the Lok Sabha elections held this year, five seats were vacant due to the MLAs of these areas being elected to the Lok Sabha.
Among the MLAs who won the Lok Sabha elections, BJP's Parimal Shuklabaidya was the MLA from Dholai assembly constituency. He won the Cachar Lok Sabha seat. Ranjit Dutta from Bihali, who won the Tezpur parliamentary seat from BJP.
At the same time, Assam Gana Parishad leader Phani Bhushan Choudhary, who has been continuously occupying the Bangaigaon assembly seat since 1985, won the election from Barpeta Lok Sabha seat as an NDA candidate. Whereas, UPPL's Jayanta Basumatari won the election from Kokrajhar seat as an NDA candidate after representing Sidli assembly seat.
At the same time, Congress's Rakibul Hussain, who was a five-time MLA from Samguri, registered a decisive victory in the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, the state BJP President has announced that in the upcoming by-election, the BJP will field its candidates on three constituencies - Bihali, Dholai and Samaguri. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has gone to Delhi from Guwahati with the list of candidates for all these three seats. Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union Minister Sonowal have already met with the central leadership of the BJP regarding the candidature. BJP can announce its candidates at any time.
Meanwhile, the BJP will field candidates of its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People's Party (UPPL), in Bongaigaon and Sidli respectively.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash