Assam: 51 candidates in fray for 7 April polls

Guwahati: Altogether 51 candidates are in the fray following withdrawal of three candidates on the last day today for the first phase polls to five parliamentary constituencies in Assam scheduled on 7 April. One candidate each withdrew from Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Tezpur while there was no withdrawal from Jorhat and Kaliabor on the last day of withdrawal today, according to the Returning Officers of the respective constituencies.[caption id=“attachment_1448377” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Poll time. Reuters[/caption] There are 13 candidates each in Lakhimpur and Kaliabor, 10 in Jorhat, nine in Tezpur and six in Dibrugarh, including five women in the fray. Among the candidates who withdrew are Independents Gangadhar Dutta and Md Iqbal Ansari from Lakhimpur and Tezpur respectively along with Ram Narayan Singh of Shiv Sena in Dibrugarh. Among the prominent candidates in the fray in the first phase are the two Union ministers from the state—Paban Singh Ghatowar from Dibrugarh and Ranee Narah from Lakhimpur—controversial former Congress MP Moni Kumar Subba as an independent from Tezpur, BJP state unit president Sarbananda Sonowal from Lakhimpur, sitting AGP MP from Tezpur Joseph Toppo and former AGP MP Dr Arun Sarmah from Kaliabor. Other prominent candidates also in the fray are Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s son Gaurav Gogoi from Kaliabor, former Union Minister BK Handique who is making a bid to retain the Jorhat seat for the seventh consecutive term, former legislator and Ulfa leader Jiten Gogoi contesting as an independent and Congress MLA from Bihpuria Bhupen Kumar Borah. Five candidates, including former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev’s daughter and Silchar MLA Sushmita Dev, filed their nominations for the second phase of polls to three constituencies of Karimganj(SC), Silchar and Autonomous District(ST) scheduled on 12 April. PTI