The counting of votes for the bypolls to five Assembly seats in Assam began at 8 am on November 23. These seats—Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri—became vacant after five MLAs, including a cabinet minister, moved to the Lok Sabha. Two of these MLAs were from the ruling BJP, while others hailed from the AGP, UPPL, and Congress.
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Diganta Ghatowal of BJP is leading with 8,387 votes in Behali
Diptimayee Choudhury of AGP is leading with 9,984 votes in Bongaigaon.
UPPL candidate Nirmal Kumar Brahma has taken the lead with 4,434 votes.
BJP candidate Nihar Ranjan Das has taken a lead in Dholai
Tanzil Hussain of Congress has taken a lead in Sanaguri.
Diganta Ghatowal of the BJP has taken the lead in Behali.
Diptimayee Choudhury of AGP has taken the lead in Bongaigaon.
Suddho Kumar Basumatary of the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) has taken a lead in Sidli.
Additional security forces have been deployed outside the polling stations in Dholai, Samaguri, Behali, Bongaigaon and Sidli assembly constituencies Thirty-four candidates are in the fray.
The counting of votes for the Dholai assembly constituency began at the Inter State Truck Terminal of Ramnagar, for Sidli at the District Centre of Kajalgaon, for Bongaigaon at Bongaigaon College, and for Behali and Samaguri constituencies at their respective district commissioner's Office.
Counting for votes begins for the five seats of Assam by-elections
Notable transitions included BJP leaders Parimal Suklabaidya and Ranjit Dutta, who secured the Cachar and Tezpur Lok Sabha seats; AGP's Phani Bhushan Choudhury winning in Barpeta; and UPPL’s Joyanta Basumatary claiming the Kokrajhar seat.
After the polls, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sarma took to X and wrote, "Your voice matters and the choice you make will determine the course of your constituency's development in the coming days."
An overall polling percentage of 72.83 per cent was recorded across the five Legislative Assembly Constituencies that went to the bye-elections in Assam.
Dholai - In Dholai of Barak Valley, BJP candidate Nihar Ranjan Das was engaged in a fierce battle, facing a tough challenge from Congress nominee Dhrubajyoti Purkayastha.
Sidli - The contest in Sidli, located in the Bodoland Territorial Region, has become particularly interesting as Congress has fielded a candidate after more than 20 years. A three-cornered battle was expected between Sanjib Warie of Congress, Nirmal Kumar Brahma of the United People's Party Liberal, and Suddho Kumar Basumatary of the Bodoland People's Front.
Bongaigaon - In Bongaigaon, Diptimayee Choudhury was fielded by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the saffron party's ally. She is the wife of AGP MP Phani Bhusan Choudhury, who represented Bongaigaon for eight consecutive terms since 1985 before moving to Parliament earlier this year. Diptimayee Choudhury is now locked in a direct contest with Brajenjit Singha of the Congress, which is aiming to capture the seat from AGP.
Behali - In Behali, Jayanta Borah, who joined Congress after being named its candidate, was set for a fierce battle, likely facing off against his former party, the BJP. The saffron party has fielded Diganta Ghatowal from the constituency. In addition to Borah and Ghatowal, Lakhikanta Kurmi from CPI(ML) Liberation, standing as a united opposition candidate, and Ananta Gogoi from AAP were also in the fray, making it a highly competitive contest.
Samaguri - In the Samaguri bypoll, Congress fielded Tanzil Hussain, the son of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, to contest against BJP's Diplu Ranjan Sarma. The race has turned into a fierce tug-of-war between the two candidates, with both parties vying for control of the constituency.
