Assam to witness by-polls in 5 assembly seats on Saturday
Guwahati Oct 29 PTI By-elections will be conducted in five assembly constituencies in Assam on Saturday under tight security officials saidStrict Covid-19 protocols will be followed during the by-polls in Gossaigaon Bhabanipur Tamulpur Mariani and Thowra seatsAround 796 lakh voters will decide the electoral fortune of 31 contestants in the five seats that fell vacant due to resignations and deaths of legislators officials said on FridayThe ruling BJP has fielded its candidates in three seats leaving the other two to alliance partner UPPL The Congress put up nominees in all five while its former allies the AIUDF and the BPF are contesting in two and one seats respectivelyThe prominent contestants include Rupjyoti Kurmi Sushanta Borgohain Phanidhar Talukdar all BJP Luhit Konwar and Jowel Tudu both Congress Jubbar Ali and Khairul Anam Khandakar both AIUDF and Jiron Basumatary of the UPPLVoting will take place from 7 am to 5 pm while counting will be held on November 2 The poll results however will not affect the composition of the governmentThe Election Commission has appointed general police and expenditure observers in the constituencies for free and fair pollingPersonnel of Central Armed Police Forces CAPF have been deployed at each polling station while webcasting will be done in all the 1176 polling stations for monitoring the voting process live on October 30 as per the ECs directionIn the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic the EC has taken measures to ensure that all polling stations strictly follow Covid-19 protocols for the safety of voters and election officials The facilities of thermal scanning hand sanitiser face masks will also be available at the polling stations officials saidFacilities such as transport and wheelchair have also been made for elderly voters and persons with disabilitiesIn the 126-seat House the ruling BJP has 59 MLAs its allies AGP and UPPL nine and five MLAs each respectively The opposition Congress has 27 AIUDF 15 BPF three and CPIM one MLA besides an Independent legislatorBy-polls in Gossaigaon and Tamulpur were necessitated due to death of the sitting MLAs while the incumbents of Bhabanipur Mariani and Thowra resigned from their seats to join the ruling BJP Gossaigaon seat was won by the Bodo Peoples Front BPF in the March-April Assembly election while the United Peoples Party Liberal UPPL had bagged Tamulpur Mariani and Thowra had Congress MLAs while Bhabanipur was cornered by AIUDF PTI ESB NN NN
Guwahati Oct 29 PTI By-elections will be conducted in five assembly constituencies in Assam on Saturday under tight security officials saidStrict Covid-19 protocols will be followed during the by-polls in Gossaigaon Bhabanipur Tamulpur Mariani and Thowra seatsAround 796 lakh voters will decide the electoral fortune of 31 contestants in the five seats that fell vacant due to resignations and deaths of legislators officials said on FridayThe ruling BJP has fielded its candidates in three seats leaving the other two to alliance partner UPPL The Congress put up nominees in all five while its former allies the AIUDF and the BPF are contesting in two and one seats respectivelyThe prominent contestants include Rupjyoti Kurmi Sushanta Borgohain Phanidhar Talukdar all BJP Luhit Konwar and Jowel Tudu both Congress Jubbar Ali and Khairul Anam Khandakar both AIUDF and Jiron Basumatary of the UPPLVoting will take place from 7 am to 5 pm while counting will be held on November 2 The poll results however will not affect the composition of the governmentThe Election Commission has appointed general police and expenditure observers in the constituencies for free and fair pollingPersonnel of Central Armed Police Forces CAPF have been deployed at each polling station while webcasting will be done in all the 1176 polling stations for monitoring the voting process live on October 30 as per the ECs directionIn the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic the EC has taken measures to ensure that all polling stations strictly follow Covid-19 protocols for the safety of voters and election officials The facilities of thermal scanning hand sanitiser face masks will also be available at the polling stations officials saidFacilities such as transport and wheelchair have also been made for elderly voters and persons with disabilitiesIn the 126-seat House the ruling BJP has 59 MLAs its allies AGP and UPPL nine and five MLAs each respectively The opposition Congress has 27 AIUDF 15 BPF three and CPIM one MLA besides an Independent legislatorBy-polls in Gossaigaon and Tamulpur were necessitated due to death of the sitting MLAs while the incumbents of Bhabanipur Mariani and Thowra resigned from their seats to join the ruling BJP Gossaigaon seat was won by the Bodo Peoples Front BPF in the March-April Assembly election while the United Peoples Party Liberal UPPL had bagged Tamulpur Mariani and Thowra had Congress MLAs while Bhabanipur was cornered by AIUDF PTI ESB NN NN
