Assam Lok Sabha elections 2024: 13 more candidates file nominations for second phase of LS polls in state

A total of 13 candidates belonging to the BJP, Congress and AIUDF filed their nomination papers on Wednesday for five constituencies in Assam that are going to polls in the second phase on April 26, an election official said. 

Altogether 27 candidates have so far submitted their papers till the penultimate day of filing of nominations for the second phase of polls to the five constituencies of Karimganj, Silchar, Nagaon, Diphu and Darrang-Udalguri.

BJP's Lok Sabha candidates Parimal Suklabaidya and Kripanath Mallah filed their nomination papers for the two Barak Valley constituencies of Silchar and Karimganj respectively on Wednesday in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Suklabaidya, the state excise and transport minister, and Congress candidate Surya Kanta Sarkar filed their papers for the Silchar constituency, which has been reserved as a Scheduled Caste seat following the delimitation exercise in the state.

Altogether six candidates have so far filed their nominations for the seat which is likely to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, Congress and Trinamool Congress' Radhey Shyam Biswas. 

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In Karimganj, sitting BJP MP Kripanath Mallah filed his papers. Karimganj was earlier a Scheduled Caste reserved constituency but has become a general seat following delimitation. 

Five candidates have so far filed their papers, including AIUDF's Sahabul Alam Choudhury, SUCI(C)'s Prajwal Sudip Dev and Independents Binoy Krishna Roy and Dilip Kumar. 

Congress has nominated prominent advocate Hafez Rashid Choudhury for the seat. He is scheduled to file his nomination papers on Thursday. 

In Diphu seat, three candidates, including Joyram Engleng of the Congress and Jotson Bey of Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), filed their nominations during the day while two others, including BJP's Amarsing Tisso, had filed their papers earlier. 

In Darrang-Udalguri, Congress candidate Madhab Rajbongshi, Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF)'s Durga Das Boro, SUCI's Jitendra Chaliha, Republican Party of India's Abul Kasem and Gana Suraksha Party's Swarna Devi filed their nominations during the day, while Lalit Pegu of Voters Party International had submitted his documents earlier. 

In Nagaon, AIUDF's Aminul Islam and Jai Prakash Janata Dal's Anupam Baruah filed their papers on Wednesday, while Asom Jana Morcha's Saiful Islam Choudhury and two Independents -- Abu Shama and Sikha Sarma -- had submitted their documents earlier. 

The last date for filing of nomination is April 4, while the submitted documents will be scrutinised on April 5 and April 8 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations. 

A total of 35 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of polls on April 19 in Kaziranga, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur constituencies. 

In the outgoing Lok Sabha, the BJP held nine seats, and the Congress three, while there were one AIUDF and one Independent MP from the state.