Guwahati Sep 29 PTI Opposition party Raijor Dal RD on Wednesday said that it will contest two out of five assembly seats in Assam where by-elections will be held on October 30 Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi said that the party has decided to contest Thowra and Mariani seats and hopes to win both The two constituencies were bagged by Congress but its MLAs later resigned and switched over to the BJP Dhaijya Konwar will contest Thowra on behalf of RD and we will declare our Mariani candidate soon he told reporters He also appealed to the Congress with whom RD had tried to project common candidates for the by-polls to defeat the ruling NDA to support their nominees If the Congress supports us we will campaign for them in the remaining four seats Gogoi said By-election will also be held in three other seats in Assam -- Bhabanipur Tamulpur and Gossaigaon Though Majuli is also vacant by-poll will not be held there this time as Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal resigned from the MLAs post just hours before the schedule was announced by the EC Gogoi is the lone RD legislator in the 126-member assembly and he was elected as an IndependentThe BJP now has 59 MLAs while its allies AGP has nine and UPPL has five legislators Congress has 27 lawmakers AIUDF 15 BPF three and CPIM has one member in the House PTI TR ACD ACD

Guwahati Sep 29 PTI Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday visited erosion-hit areas in Biswanath district and instructed officials concerned to implement permanent solutions to the perennial problem On the first of his three-day tour of northern and upper Assam Sarma visited areas affected by erosion caused by the Brahmaputra an official release said He asked Additional Chief Secretary Water Resources Syedain Abbasi to take durable measures using geo-bag sloping for embankments to give permanent succour to flood and erosion affected people Responding to the request of local people he said that a high school will be constructed at Batiamari and the Monabari Road will be repaired and renamed after freedom fighter Kanaklata Baruah Sarma visited the under-construction Ghahigaon stadium at Gohpur and asked authorities concerned to complete the work by March next year He also inspected an Anganwadi centre at Behali and spent some time with children it said The chief minister also met the family members of freedom fighters Kanaklata Baruah Mukunda Kakoti and Rampati Rajkhowa and assured them all help from the government PTI TR ACD ACD