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Updated March 31st, 2021 at 22:44 IST

Assam Elections: With 3 BJP Ministers in fray, here're 8 key contests of Phase 2

In the 39 seats going to the polls in the second phase of the Assam election, key leaders of BJP, Congress, and AIUDF are contesting. Here are 8 key contests.

Reported by: Akhil Oka
Assam elections
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Touted as a close battle between the incumbent BJP-led alliance and the 'Mahajot', the two remaining phases of the Assam Assembly election shall be conducted on April 1 and April 6. There are 345 candidates in the fray for the 39 constituencies going to the polls on Thursday. In the second phase, allies BJP, AGP, and UPPL are fielding candidates in 34, 6, and three seats respectively with a friendly contest expected in four constituencies. While Congress is contesting 27 seats, AIUDF and BPF are in contention in eight and four constituencies respectively.

The ruling tie-up has made a range of promises including correction of the NRC, implementation of the Bodoland Territorial Region Accord, and laws to end 'Love Jihad' and 'Land Jihad'. On the other hand, Congress has laid emphasis on its five guarantees- non-implementation of the CAA, free electricity, assistance to homemakers, increase in daily wage of tea workers, and generation of 5 lakh jobs. There are 73,44,631 electors in this phase which includes 37,34,537 male, 36,09,959 female and 135 transgender voters. 

Here are the key contests 

1. Dholai: Parimal Suklabaidya (BJP) vs Kamakhya Prasad Mala (Congress)

Assam Environment Minister Parimal Suklabaidya will contest from Dholai for the 7th time on a BJP ticket. He has been elected as an MLA in 1991, 2001, 2006, and 2016. In the previous election, he wrested the seat from Congress that had fielded Girindra Mallik. While Mallik had trounced Suklabaidya in the 2011 polls by 14,370 votes, 2016 witnessed the BJP candidate defeating him by a huge margin of 26,837 votes. In the current election, the other contenders include Congress' Kamakhya Prasad Mala and Assam Jatiya Parishad's Ram Ratan Dusad. 

2. Sonai: Aminul Haque Laskar (BJP) vs Karim Uddin Barbhuiya (AIUDF)

Falling under the Silchar Lok Sabha segment, this seat is a part of the Cachar district. Deputy Assembly Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar is in the poll fray from here whereas AIUDF's Karim Uddin Barbhuiya is the Mahajot candidate. Laskar was the lone Muslim MLA to be elected on a BJP ticket in the 2016 Assembly polls. In the previous election, he had defeated Congress' Anamul Haque by over 7000 votes. However, the 2011 polls witnessed Anamul Haque trouncing BJP candidate Audesh Kumar Singh by a margin of 42,000 votes. 

3. Panery: Biswajit Daimary (BJP) vs Karuna Kanta Swargiary (BPF)

Falling under the Mangaldoi Lok Sabha segment, the Panery constituency is a part of the Kamrup district. Interestingly, BJP has fielded Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary from this seat. A one-term MLA, Daimary was a member of the Upper House belonging to the Nagaland People's Front until November 2020 when he defected to the JP Nadda-led party.

In February 2021, he was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha. Panery was won by Kamali Basumatari of BPF in the 2016 Assembly polls while the runner-up was Independent candidate Nanda Ram Baro. It is pertinent to note that BPF joined the Congress-led Mahajot alliance in the lead-up to the Assembly election. BPF's Karuna Kanta Swargiary is the key challenger to Daimary. 

4. Rangia: Bhabesh Kalita (BJP) vs Bhagaban Dev Misra (CPM)

BJP has fielded sitting MLA Bhabesh Kalita from this seat while CPM's Bhagaban Dev Misra is his main opponent. On the other hand, AJP's Dr. Babul Sahariah and JD(U)'s Biswajit Brahma are also in the poll fray. At present, Kalita holds Independent charge of the Irrigation Department in the Assam government. During the last election, the Minister beat the then incumbent legislator from Congress- Ghanshyam Kalita by a whopping margin of over 32,000 votes. However, in 2011, the latter trounced AGP's Thaneswar Boro. 

5. Katigora: Gautam Roy (BJP) vs Khalil Uddin Mazumder (Congress)

6-time MLA Gautam Roy is contesting as the BJP candidate from Katigora in the Cachar district. The 72-year-old politician represented the Katlichera constituency continuously from 1985 to 2016 and even served in ex-CM Tarun Gogoi's Cabinet. However, he suffered a shocking defeat to AIUDF's Suzam Uddin Laskar in the previous election. After the Congress party suspended him for anti-party activities, he joined the saffron party in 2019. In the 2016 polls, BJP's Amar Chand Jain had defeated  AIUDF's Khalil Uddin Mazumder with a slender margin of over 8,000 votes. On this occasion, Jain was shifted to Katlichera while Roy was asked to contest from here. Additionally, Khalil Uddin Mazumder is fighting the polls on a Congress ticket. 

6. Jagiroad: Pijush Hazarika (BJP) vs Swapan Kumar Mandal (Congress)

Jagiroad which is reserved for members of the SC community is part of the Nowgong Lok Sabha segment. Pijush Hazarika who is MoS Urban Development (Independent charge) is again contesting from this seat while Congress has given a ticket to Swapan Kumar Mandal. In 2016, he beat Congress candidate Bibekananda Dalai by 28,326 votes and became the first BJP member to have won this seat since 1978. Jagiroad is considered an AGP stronghold which has won from here on 4 occasions. In 2011 though, Dalai had defeated AGP's Bubul Das.

7. Jamunamukh: Sadik Ullah Bhuyan (BJP) vs Sirajuddin Ajmal (AIUDF)

Touted as an AIUDF stronghold, Jamunamukh shall see a direct faceoff between Asom Gana Parishad's Sadik Ullah Bhuyan and AIUDF's Sirajuddin Ajmal. The latter is the brother of AIUDF supremo and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal. Garnering 42.57 per cent of the vote share in the 2016 polls, AIUDF's Rahim Ajmal beat Rejaul Karim Chowdhury by over 13,000 votes. Incidentally, Sirajuddin Ajmal had comfortably won this seat in 2011 when Chowdhury contested as a Congress candidate. TMC's Rezwan Ahmed, AJP's Bodrul Haque, and JD(U)'s Jahirul Islam Laskar are also in the poll fray.

8. Karimganj North: Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha (Congress) vs Manash Das (BJP)

Located in the Karimganj district, this seat falls under the Karimganj Lok Sabha segment. While BJP fielded Dr. Manash Das, Congress has renominated its sitting MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha. The Sonia Gandhi-led party faces an uphill task to retain this seat as BJP had come very close in the 2016 polls when its candidate Mission Ranjan Das lost by less than 500 votes to Purkayastha. The latter had achieved the same result by defeating Das in the 2011 election with a victory margin of more than 17,000 votes. 

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Published March 31st, 2021 at 22:44 IST

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