Assam Lok Sabha elections 2024: 37 nominations found valid for third phase; scrutiny for Kokrajhar due

Altogether 37 nomination papers were found to be valid for three Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam that will go to polls in the third phase on May 7, officials said.
    
The scrutiny of the papers for Kokrajhar, however, is yet to be completed, they said.
    
In the Guwahati constituency, out of 10 candidates who filed their nomination papers, eight were found to be valid, including BJP's Bijuli Kalita Medhi and Congress' Mira Borthakur Goswami, who is expected to be locked in a direct fight for the prestigious seat, which is currently held by the BJP.
    
For the Dhubri constituency, 15 candidates were found to have filed valid nominations after scrutiny, with the papers of four nominees getting rejected.
    
The minority-dominated seat is likely to witness a triangular contest among AIUDF chief and sitting MP Badruddin Ajmal, seeking to return to the Lower House for the fourth consecutive term, Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain and NDA nominee Zaved Islam of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

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In Barpeta, one set of nomination papers was rejected, leaving 14 candidates in the fray, the officials said.
    
The fight for Barpeta is also expected to be a three-cornered one among CPI(M)'s Manoranjan Talukdar, AGP's Phani Bhusan Choudhury and Congress' Deep Bayan.

Congress' Abdul Khaleque holds the Barpeta seat, but he was not given the party ticket this time.
    
The scrutiny of nominations for the Kokrajhar constituency could not be completed on Sunday as per schedule.
    
"It has been adjourned... it will be done on Monday," an official said, without elaborating on the reason.
    
A total of 16 candidates had filed their nominations in Kokrajhar, which is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
    
Among them is sitting MP Naba Kumar Sarania, whose writ petition in the Gauhati High Court, challenging the striking down of his ST (Plains) status by the State Level Scrutiny Committee, was dismissed on Thursday.
    
He had been representing the constituency as an independent since 2014.
    
The last date of withdrawal of nominations is April 22.
    
Out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, polling in the first phase for five constituencies was conducted on Saturday, while it is scheduled for another five seats on April 26.