GUWAHATI, April 17: Campaigning for the first phase of polls to five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam scheduled on April 19 ended on Wednesday.
The battle of the ballots in this phase will decide the fate of 35 candidates including two Rajya Sabha MPs, three Lok Sabha MPs and an MLA. The five constituencies going to the polls in this phase are Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaziranga, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur.
The prominent candidates in the fray are Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who is contesting from Dibrugarh, and Lok Sabha’s deputy leader of the opposition Gaurav Gogoi, who has been fielded by the Congress from Jorhat.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Guwahati on Tuesday and addressed an election rally at Nalbari under Barpeta constituency on Wednesday, both going to polls in the third phase, but party sources claimed that it will have an impact on the first phase elections as well.
Union home minister Amit Shah also campaigned for the BJP inLakhimpur and held a roadshow in Tinsukia under Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency while Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi held a road show in Jorhat for party nominee Gaurav Gogoi.
For the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting for the first time in the two Parliamentary constituencies of Dibrugarh and Sonitpur constituencies, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and Delhi minister Atishi campaigned and held roadshows in both seats.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma led the BJP campaign in these five constituencies highlighting the party’s achievements during its las ten years of rule at the Centre.
The opposition alliance also depended on state leaders and civil society for campaign with the candidates going all out to woo the electorate.
The issues highlighted by the ruling party during the campaign were mostly confined to claims of all-round development, particularly in the North East, peace in the region, employment opportunities, facilities for women, students, tea garden workers, among others.
The opposition parties primarily focussed on the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) against the wishes of the people of the state, unfulfilled promises of development which have allegedly not reached to all beneficiaries.
The prominent candidates in the fray are Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, a Rajya Sabha MP, locked in a triangular contest in the prestigious Dibrugarh constituency against the United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA) candidate Lurinjyoti Gogoi and Aam Aadmi Party’s Manoj Dhanowar.
In Jorhat, Lok Sabha’s deputy leader of the opposition Gaurav Gogoi is locked in a direct contest with sitting BJP MP Topon Gogoi with a keen fight likely on the cards.
Gogoi had to shift his constituency to Jorhat from the earlier Kaliabor, which has been renamed as Kaziranga following delimitation last year.
In Kaziranga, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa is locked in a direct contest with former Congress MLA Roselina Tirkey, with both candidates being from tea workers’ community.
Kaziranga has the highest number of eleven candidates in the fray.
In Sonitpur, there are eight contestants with a triangular contest likely between BJP MLA Ranjit Dutta, Congress candidate Prem Lal Ganju and AAP’s Rishiraj Kaundinya.
In Lakhimpur with nine contestants, sitting BJP MP Pradan Baruah is locked in a direct contest with Uday Shankar Hazarika of Congress.
In the first phase, a total of 86,68,239 electorate including 43,93,512 women voters will exercise their franchise in 10,001 polling booths. (PTI)
