Counting for Bye-Polls in Five Assam Constituencies Today; Results Expected by Evening

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The counting of votes in the bye-poll election for the five constituencies in the state will be conducted on Saturday. The results are expected to be declared by the evening.

Polling for the bye-election to the five constituencies of Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri was held on November 13, and the poll witnessed a final turnout of 75.67%. The counting is scheduled to start from 8 am at Silchar for the Dholai constituency, Kajalgaon for the Sidli constituency, Bongaigaon for the poll there, Biswanath Chariali for the Behali constituency, and Nagaon for the Samaguri constituency. Postal ballots will be counted at the beginning of counting, followed by the votes in the EVMs.

Chief Electoral Officer, Assam, Anurag Goel, visited the five districts where counting will be held and reviewed the preparations for the counting process.

The total electors in the bye-election to the five LACs were 9,09,057, comprising 4,54,075 males, 4,54,963 females, and 19 of the third gender. The total number of polling stations in the five LACs was 1,078, including 11 model polling stations and 14 woman-managed polling stations. Sidli LAC had the highest number of 2,17,183 electors.

The final turnout in the bye-elections to the five constituencies was recorded as 75.67% after the end of polling at all the constituencies.

According to the Election Department, the constituency-wise breakdown of the turnout was summed up as follows: Dholai 70.31%, Sidli 75.47%, Bongaigaon 77.89%, Behali 75.79%, and Samaguri 79.55%. This revealed that the Samaguri constituency recorded the highest turnout of 79.55%, while the turnout was lowest at the Dholai constituency, with 70.31% of the voters exercising their franchise.

The total number of candidates contesting in the bye-poll was 34.

The key candidates in the fray were Nihar Ranjan Das (BJP) and Dhrubajyoti Purkayastha (Congress) in Dholai; Nirmal Kumar Brahma (UPPL), Suddho Kumar Basumatary (BPF), and Sanjib Warie (Congress) in Sidli; Diptimayee Choudhury (AGP) and Brajenjit Singha (Congress) in Bongaigaon; Diganta Ghatowal (BJP) and Jayatna Borah (Congress) in Behali; and Diplu Ranjan Sarmah (BJP) and Tanzil Hussain (Congress) in Samaguri, among others.

Samaguri and Behali witnessed intense contests primarily between the candidates of the BJP and Congress. Pre-poll violence was recorded from the Samaguri constituency, where the Congress candidate Tanzil Hussain was locked in a sharp contest with the BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah. Notably, Tanzil Hussain is the son of former Samaguri MLA and Dhubri Member of Parliament, Rakibul Hussain, while Diplu Ranjan Sarmah is a general secretary of Assam BJP.

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