The third and final phase of polling for four parliamentary seats in Assam commenced on May 7, 2024. These constituencies include Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, and Dhubri.
Over 80 lakh voters are set to determine the outcome with over 47 candidates contesting across these constituencies. Out of these, Dhubri boasts the highest number of voters, with over 26 lakh registered voters, followed by Guwahati with more than 20 lakhs, Barpeta with over 19 lakhs, and Kokrajhar with more than 14 lakhs voters.
According to Assam’s Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel in a press conference, more than 9,516 polling stations have been set up for the elections. The total number of voters is 81,49,091, which is made up of 41,00,544 males, 40,48,436 females, and 111 voters belonging to the third gender.
As of now, two rounds of voting in 10 constituencies have already been completed. The first phase on April 19 saw Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat go to the polls, and the second phase on April 26 saw Darrang-Udalguri, Diphu, Karimganj, Silchar, Nagaon go to the vote.
The campaign for the third round of voting ends on May 6th, Sunday afternoon. In the last few days, both the ruling and opposition parties campaigned at breakneck speed before the end of the campaign.
Several important issues were discussed during the campaign. For instance, during public rallies, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made promises to resolve Aadhaar card and D-voter challenges, aiming to win over voters. However, the people are still highly sceptical about these promises, but note that there is a shift in the BJP’s stance. The party had initially tried to use the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to gather support among Scheduled Caste Bengali Hindu voters, however, the BJP’s present silence on these matters has raised eyebrows in the state. Other issues such price hikes, unemployment, land issues, and women’s safety were also the issues raised in the campaign.
While the outcome remains uncertain until June 4, voters have been attentive to the issues of democracy, rights, and public welfare.
Guwahati
Meanwhile, looking at Guwahati, the seat from the state’s capital has been traditionally won by BJP but this time people’s mood may have registered an exception. The INDIA alliance candidate from the city, Mira Borthakur of the Congress party has been seen fighting hard in Guwahati against BJP candidate Bijali Kalita. Apart from minorities of the city, Borthakur has the support of people who are unhappy with the BJP government and its policies in the region. The sitting CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has therefore seem to have done a lot of campaigning in the last few days and has held various public meetings in this metropolis of Guwahati. He has even tried to woo minority community members, “Muslim women and girls will vote for us to support our action like triple talaq and banning polygamy.” The BJP has also tried to convince voters by talking about the Assam Orunodei Scheme under which Rs 1250 is paid to beneficiaries from low-income households.
The BJP had won 9 out 14 Lok Sabha seats, and this time also it seems to be ambitious. BJP leader and Home Minister, Amit Shah also did a press conference in the state’s capital at the end of April. Similarly, in the third phase campaign in Assam Among the opposition’s star campaigners, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi addressed a rally in Dhubri and Barpeta saw a public meeting with Manik Sarkar, who is a popular leader in the region, and Sitaram Yechury,General Secretary of the CPI(M).
Dhubri
Meanwhile, AIUDF’s Badruddin Ajmal faces a tough fight in Dhubri which has been a Congress stronghold before 2009. He faces competition from Congress’ Rakibul Hussain and Zabed Islam from Asom Gana Parishad which is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Especially in Karimganj and Nagaon, the three-time MP Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal is now facing a tough fight in his own stronghold as the congress candidate is seen to be progressing gradually in the strong. Both Badruddin Ajmal and Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain are from Nagaon district. Dhubri’s local candidate is Zabed Islam from the NDA. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself has campaigned for voting in Dhubri, asking for votes from the minorities but the real fight seems between Congress and the AIUDF.
Kokrajhar
Meanwhile, Kokrajhar also seems to witness people’s mood against BJP and their alliance partner United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL). Kokrajhar is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Correspondents from the ground assert that even though a major portion Bodo Tribes people are with the BJP-UPPL candidates, the rest of the votes have registered an anti-BJP stance. Some of these communities include religious minorities, Koch Rajbongshi, Bengali-speaking Hindus, Bengali-speaking Muslims, and the Santal Adivasi communities. In 2014 and 2019, Naba Kumar Sarania from the Gana Suraksha Party (Independent) emerged victorious. However, this election cycle, his nomination has been cancelled. In Kokrajhar, a three-way triangular contest appears to be taking place between Binita Deka of the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP), Kampa Bargoyari from Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), and Jayanta Basumatary supported by BJP and UPPL.
Barpeta
In Barpeta Congress candidate Abdul Khaleque had won in 2019. This time the Congress has given a ticket to a new face, Deep Bayan. On the other hand, the CPI(M) has contested Comrade Manoranjan Talukdar. Talukdar is a veteran CPI(M) leader and MLA from Sorbhog assembly, a constituency which has now been included in Barpeta post-delimitation. The BJP has fielded MLA Phani Bhushan Chowdhury from the constituency.
Assam has witnessed the civil society activists,intellectuals and democratic organisations campaigning against BJP and their alliance partners. In Barpeta democratic people have campaigned in support of CPI(M) candidate Manoranjan Talukder, despite the efforts of the BJP to split the opposition votes, here there seems to be a triangle fight between BJP supported AGP, CPI(M) and INC.
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