Assam ByPolls: Voting For 5 Constituencies to be Held Tomorrow, 31 Candidates in the Fray

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DY365
Published: October 29,2021 04:56 PM
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Voting for the by-elections in 5 constituencies of Assam would begin at 7AM tomorrow (October 30)

Guwahati, October 29: Voting for the by-elections in 5 constituencies of Assam would begin at 7AM tomorrow (October 30).  There are 31 candidates in the fray. As many as 7, 96,456 (7.96 lakh) voters are expected to exercise their franchise.



Voting would take place for the Assam Assembly seats of Gossaigaon, Thowra, Mariani, Tamulpur and Bhabanipur. By-elections in Gossaigaon and Tamulpur were necessitated following the deaths of sitting MLAs, while the incumbents of Bhabanipur, Mariani and Thowra resigned from their seats and joined the ruling BJP.



To conduct the elections in a free and fair manner, live monitoring and webcasting has been arranged by the CEO, Assam as per Election Commission of India’s direction. Webcasting will be done in all the 1,176 polling stations. Out of these, 285 are in 28-Gossaigaon, 213 at 41-Bhabanipur, 322 at 58-Tamulpur, 183 at 101-Mariani and 173 at 107-Thowra constituencies. Through webcasting, Election Commission of India, Chief Electoral Officer and District Election Officers will be able to monitor the polling process live on the polling day.



All preparations are afoot for smooth conduct of bye-election to the Assam Legislative Assembly–2021. The election machinery has completed all arrangements for conduct of the ensuing bye-election in a free, fair and safe manner. To keep a strong vigilance on law and order, expenditure etc., the Election Commission of India has already appointed General, Police and Expenditure Observers. Further, to attract the citizens for casting their votes and to strictly follow COVID protocol in the polling stations, awareness campaign is being conducted under SVEEP.



Half section Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) is deployed at each polling station location for security measures to ensure a conducive atmosphere for the smooth conduct of election.



“In the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, ECI has taken every possible precautionary measure to ensure that all the polling stations follow COVID-19 safety protocols strictly for the safety of the voters and the election officials. Each and every polling station will be sanitized one day prior to poll and facility of thermal scanning, hand sanitizers, face masks are also made available at the polling stations,” Assam Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade’s office said in a press statement.



Of the 7, 96,456 general electors, 4, 03,374 are males, 3, 93,078 are females and 4 are



Transgender. Apart from these, there are also 3,165 service voters. 8, 864 electors are above 80 years of age and 4, 998 falls under the PwD category.



Tamulpur constituency has the highest number of electors at 2,17,432. The constituency with the lowest number of electors is Thowra with 1, 15,971 electors.



Of the total 31 candidates in fray there are 8 each in Gossaigaon and Bhabanipur, 6 in Tamulpur, 4 in Mariani and 5 in Thowra.



The option of postal ballot facility is being extended to the senior citizens above the age of 80 years, PwDs, COVID-19 suspect or affected persons, in addition to the persons employed in essential services.



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During this Assembly Bye-Election – 2021, a total of 5,410 polling personnel will be engaged and a total of 1, 869 Ballot Units (BUs); 1, 844 Control Unit (CUs) and 1, 861 VVPATs will be used.



Bypoll in Bhabanipur was necessitated as sitting MLA of Bhabanipur, Phani Dhar Talukdar resigned from AIUDF and joined BJP.



For the Bhabanipur seat, the candidates are Phanidhar Talukdar (BJP), Sailendra Nath Das (INC), Jubbar Ali (AIUDF), Merijul Haque (National Road Map Party of India), Siben Das (Voters Party International), besides Shawkat Ali Ahmed, Khampha Khungur Goyary and Ariful Islam (all Independents).



Bypoll in Mariani was necessitated as sitting MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi resigned from Congress and joined BJP. Kurmi has won the Mariani seat four times (2006, 2011, 2016 & 2021) as a Congress candidate.



For the Mariani seat, the candidates are Rupjyoti Kurmi (BJP), Luhit Konwar (INC), Gopal Chandra Ghatuwar (Asom Sangrami Mancha) and Sanjib Gogoi (Independent).



Bypoll for the Thowra seat is being held as the sitting MLA, Sushanta Borgohain left Congress and joined BJP. Borgohain won the Thowra seat twice (2011 & 2021) on a Congress ticket.



Politicians in the fray for the Thowra seat are Sushanta Borgohain (BJP), Monuranjan Konwar (INC), Krishna Gogoi (CPI), Dhaijya Konwar and Lohit Gowala (both Independents).



Candidates contesting for the Tamulpur constituency are Bhaskar Dahal (INC), Brajendra Nath Deka (Gana Suraksha Party), Jolen Daimary (UPPL), Raj Kumar Baro (VPI), Ganesh Kachary and Yaswanta Chauhan (both Independents).



Bypoll for the Tamulpur seat is being held as sitting MLA Leho Ram Boro, a UPPL politician died of COVID. Boro had won the Tamulpur seat by garnering 46.75 per cent of the votes polled. UPPL is an ally of BJP in Assam.



Bypoll for Gossaigaon seat is being held as its sitting MLA Majendra Narzary died of COVID. Narzary won the Gossaigaon seat 4 times on a BPF ticket.



Politicians contesting for the Gossaigaon seat are Jowel Tudu (INC), Jiron Basumatary (UPPL), Dhruba Kumar Brahma Narzary (BPF), Khairul Anam Khandakar (AIUDF), Uttam Kumar Talukdar, Kamal Roy, Osman Gani Sk and Abdul Hashem Akand (all Independents).