Assam: Pre-Poll Violence in Samaguri Constituency Leaves One Dead

GUWAHATI: Pre-election violence struck the Samaguri constituency in Central Assam Friday, killing one person according to police reports.

Bipul Saikia died at his Bajiagaon home Friday having suffered serious injuries in a clash between BJP and Congress supporters in the Bormar Bhogamur area of Samaguri.

On Thursday afternoon, BJP and Congress supporters clashed in the Bormar Bhogamur area after some individuals, reportedly BJP workers, blocked a rally led by Congress candidate Tanjil Hussain.

The clash left a BJP supporter, Bipul Saikia, seriously injured. Though the police took him home in Bajiagaon with preliminary treatment, Saikia was found dead at his residence on Friday.

The BJP candidate for the by-election is young leader and party general secretary, Dipluranjan Sarma, while Congress has fielded a young leader and son of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain. Samaguri has been a Congress stronghold for five terms under Rakibul Hussain, who vacated the seat after winning the Dhubri Lok Sabha election earlier this year.

According to the police, Saikia got injured during the Thursday clashes between the Congress and the BJP supporters, and the investigating authority is probing the reasons for his death from the wounds.

The constituency is a do-or-die battle for the ruling BJP, especially after the party underperformed in Central and Upper Assam during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party also lost the much-hyped Kaliabor constituency, which it lost this time to Congress candidate Gaurav Gogoi even after heavy campaigning. For the Nagaon constituency, the BJP was confident of winning it back from its former stronghold Congress. Though BJP leader Rajen Gohain won Nagaon for four consecutive terms from 1996 to 2014, the same seat was lost to the Congress in 2019.

Samaguri is an old Congress bastion where former Assam minister Rakibul Hussain was a member for 23 years. This year, he had to relinquish the seat as he was elected to the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency.

Although Congress hasn't announced a candidate yet, sources indicate that Rakibul Hussain's son, Tanzil Hussain, will be their candidate from Samaguri.

ALSO READ:,

ALSO WATCH: