Polling commenced on Wednesday across five Assam assembly constituencies in crucial by-elections, where 34 candidates are vying for seats left vacant due to successful bids for the Lok Sabha in the last general elections, according to an official.
Voting is underway in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri constituencies.
Polling opened at 7 a.m. and will continue until 5 p.m., with 1,078 voting centres set up across these seats, catering to more than nine lakh registered voters.
To ensure smooth operations, around 9,000 polling personnel are deployed, along with webcasting from 592 polling stations.
Additionally, eleven model polling booths and fourteen all-women staffed centres were established.
The Election Commission of India has implemented extensive security measures, deploying fifteen companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) supported by Assam Police at all polling locations.
In Samaguri, the Congress has fielded Tanzil, son of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, who will be contesting against the BJP's Diplu Ranjan Sarma.
Meanwhile, Behali sees a direct face-off between former BJP candidate-turned-Congress nominee Jayanta Borah and BJP's Diganta Ghatowal. Other candidates in Behali include Lakhikanta Kurmi from CPI(ML) Liberation, representing a united opposition, and AAP’s Ananta Gogoi.
In Bongaigaon, the AGP’s Diptimayee Choudhury, wife of Phani Bhusan Choudhury—an AGP MP and former eight-term assembly member—is facing Congress’ Brajenjit Singha in a bid to hold the AGP stronghold.
At Dholai in the Barak Valley, BJP candidate Nihar Ranjan Das confronts Congress’ Dhrubajyoti Purkayastha in what is anticipated to be a closely contested battle.
Sidli in Bodoland Territorial Region, where Congress is fielding a candidate for the first time in over two decades, is set for a three-way contest between Sanjib Warie (Congress), Nirmal Kumar Brahma (United People's Party Liberal), and Suddho Kumar Basumatary (Bodoland People’s Front).
Out of these five assembly constituencies, four were held by BJP-led allies, and only one was previously held by the Congress. In the current Assam legislative assembly of 126 members, BJP holds a majority with 61 seats, with allies AGP at eight and UPPL with six seats.
The opposition comprises 26 Congress MLAs, AIUDF with 15 members, BPF with three, CPI(M) with one, and one independent.
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