Achi news desk-
Voting in Guwahati, Barpata, Dobri and Kukrajhar (ST) constituencies will be held in the third and final phase for Assam, on May 7.
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The issues voters are expected to consider before voting this year are price rises, CAA, land and development.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal won in Dhubri by securing 16,85,005 votes, while BJP queen Ojha won in Guwahati by securing 17,63,757 votes,
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Congress candidate Abdul Khaleka won in Barpata by securing 14,58,549 votes and independent candidate Naba Kumar Sarnia won in Kokrajhar by securing 14,79,485 votes.
Guwahati is all set to witness a contest between BJP and Congress. BJP fielded teacher-turned-politician Bijuli Kalita Medhi and Congress fielded businesswoman Meera Borthkur.
The key issue surrounding Guwahati is development as some feel that development has not been planned, while others believe that the city is developing well.
Meera Borthkur, who spoke to GPlus earlier, said, “People will vote for me because there is the anti-incumbency factor and rising prices are a major issue.” She said she is appealing to everyone and is confident of victory.
Bjp’s Bijuli Kalita Medhi said, “People will vote for development and Modiji,” adding that she too is 100 percent confident of victory.
After delimitation last year, there are 10 assembly segments under Gauhati Lok Sabha constituency.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) initially announced that it would contest from Guwahati, but later withdrew its candidate while demanding that the Congress withdraw their candidates from Sunitpur and Dibrugarh, where voting was held on April 19; Congress and AAP are part of the Indian opposition alliance.
Barfta district was mainly the seat of majority Muslim immigrants until the delimitation exercise and they were the deciding factor.
The constituency reorganization raised hopes of a Hindu winner after over two decades.
Now the Rafta constituency has over 12 lakh Hindu voters and over seven lakh Muslim voters, most of whom are immigrants of Bangladeshi origin. BJP’s key ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is contesting from this seat, which was a stronghold of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) until recently.
The seat, which India’s fifth president Pakhrudin Ali Ahmed represented for two terms in 1967 and 1971, is set to witness a three-way election battle between AGP candidate Phani Bhushan Choudhury, Congress’s Deep Bayan and CPM’s Manoranjan Talukdar.
AGP has not won a single seat in the Lok Sabha in the last two general elections and is now hoping to win at least Barpta or Doveri.
Dhubri paints a picture of diversity, with rural areas making up a considerable 89% while urban areas make up the rest.
The constituency has a prominent population of Scheduled Castes (sc) at 3.5% and Scheduled Tribes (st) at 5.7%.
The religious demographics further highlight the diversity of the province, with Muslims making up 55% of the population, Hindus 40% and other religious groups 5%.
Dhubri has been a Congress stronghold, with the AIUDF making significant inroads in recent years.
The AIUDF, led by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, a prominent figure in Assam’s political scene and son of the founder of Ajmal perfumes, has achieved consecutive victories in the last three elections since 2009.
This electoral dominance underscores the party’s influence, especially in Muslim-majority constituencies.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has announced the names of eight-time MLAs from Bongaigaon, Pani Bhusan Chowdhury from Barpata and former independent MLAs from Mankachar, Zaved Islam from Madhuri.
The Dhubri Lok Sabha seat, where the minorities play the decisive role, is going to witness a three-way electoral battle between the AIUDF, the Congress and the AGP. The Congress has fielded Rokybol Hussain Madhabari while Badrudin Ajmal is trying to retain the seat.
AGP chief spokesperson and in charge of Dhubri Apurba Bhattacharjee while talking to GPlus said, “AGP will surely win. There is tough competition, but AGP will win this time.”
The Congress chief’s spokesman, Mehdi Alum Bora, said: “People have understood Ajmal’s game and he is facing a huge opposition. The Congress candidate is also very popular and therefore the Congress will win in Doveri.”
Consisting of nine assembly segments including Gossaigaon, Dotma (ST), Kokrajhar (ST), Baokhungri, Parbatjhora, Sidli chirang (ST), Bijni, Manas, and Baksa (st), the Kokrajhar constituency reflects the diverse tapestry of the region.
According to Election Commission of India (ECI) data from 2024, there are 735,270 eligible voters, with 735,001 men and 147,271 women.
Historically, the seat was under Congress rule for four consecutive terms from its creation in 1957 to 1971.
However, subsequent terms saw victories by independent candidates, with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) securing the seat in 2009.
This year the prominent contestants for the Kokrajhar constituency include Garjan Mashhari of the Congress, Kempe Burgwari of the BJP and Joyanta Basumtri of the United People’s Liberal Party (UPPL).
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the independent candidate Naba Kumar Sarnia achieved victory by a margin of 37,786 votes, garnering 484,560 votes and a share of 33.00% of the votes. Sarnia defeated BPF’s Pramila Rani Brahma, who secured 446,774 votes (30.19%).
The nomination papers of Kukrajhar MP Naba Kumar Sarnia, who was seeking a third consecutive term, have been cancelled.
Sarnia, the head of the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) representing the constituency as an independent since 2014, filed a petition in the Guwahati High Court challenging the deletion of his ST (Plains) status by the state level. The inspection committee, but it was rejected. Following this, the Member of Parliament submitted the appointment as a member of the Raba community by submitting a certificate from the All Tribe Sangha of Assam, which was issued on 18 November 1986. "…the community field ‘Boro’ was deleted and ‘Rava’ was inserted without a corresponding countersignature of the issuing authority," The members of the election department were quoted in the media.
“Kukrajhar has various issues like land rights for non-tribal community, price rise and development,” said a resident of Kukrajhar.
