Assam Assembly election 2021, Tinsukia profile: Constituency to witness two-way battle between BJP, RJD

The Tinsukia Assembly constituency falls under the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha segment and is part of the Tinsukia district. The seat is currently held by the BJP, after its candidate Sanjoy Kishan won over 61 percent of the vote share in the 2016 Assembly election. Kishan, who is a state minister, has been named by the saffron party as its candidate for the 2021 elections. The constituency has traditionally been a Congress stronghold, with the party having won the seat eleven times since the first election in 1957. However, the party has left the seat to its ally, the RJD, for the 2021 election. RJD, the main Opposition party in Bihar, has fielded Hira Devi as its candidate. Originally from Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, Hira Devi is the president of the Akhil Assam Hindi Bhasi Mahila Manch. The Tinsukia seat is likely to see a two-cornered fight between the incumbent BJP MLA and RJD’s Hira Devi, Northeast Now reported. “Tinsukia seat is dominated by Hindi-speaking community and in the past Assembly elections, the political parties most of the times gave tickets to Hindi-speaking candidates,” the report added. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also campaigned for Hira Devi on 24 March.

Voter turnout in previous elections

There are a total number of 1,44,234 registered voters in the Tinsukia constituency, of which 75,438 are men and 68,796 are women. The voter turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 80.33 percent. Meanwhile, in the 2011 election, the voter turnout was 66.26 percent.

Past election results and winners

The sitting MLA, Sanjoy Kishan, won the seat in the 2016 polls by garnering a whopping 70,937 votes or 61.24 percent of the vote share. The runner-up was the Congress’ Rajendra Prasad Singh, who won 35,868 votes or 30.96 percent of the vote share. The seat was won by Singh in the 2011 election, as he had secured 41,238 votes. Kishan was the runner-up in 2011, with 29,265 votes. The margin of Singh’s victory in 2011 was 11,973 votes. The Assam Assembly polls will be held to elect a total of 126 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Polling dates:

Elections in Assam are being held in three phases between 27 March and 6 April. The first phase of the Assembly election will take place on 27 March in 47 constituencies, whereas polling in the second phase will see 39 constituencies going to vote on 1 April. The third and final phase will take place on 6 April with 40 constituencies going to poll. The date of making nominations for the first, second and third phase are 9 March, 12 March and 19 March, respectively, while scrutiny of nominations will take place on 10 March, 16 March and 20 March, respectively. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures are: 12 March, 17 March and 22 March, respectively.