In a significant political development, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) have announced their candidates for the upcoming by-elections in Assam. The bypolls, set to take place next month, will be held in five assembly constituencies: Dholai, Sidli, Bongaigaon, Behali, and Samaguri. These seats became vacant following the election of their respective MLAs to the Lok Sabha.
The AGP has fielded Diptimoyee Choudhury for the Bongaigaon seat. Diptimoyee is the wife of Phani Bhusan Choudhury, who holds the record for being the longest-serving MLA in Assam, representing Bongaigaon for eight consecutive terms since 1985 before his recent election to the Lok Sabha.
The UPPL has nominated Nirmal Kumar Brahma for the Sidli seat. Brahma is the president of the party's Chirang district committee and a former member of the Bodoland Territorial Council, bringing significant local experience to the race.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) previously announced its candidates for three of the assembly seats on Saturday. They have nominated Nihar Ranjan Das for Dholai, Diganta Ghatowar for Behali, and Diplu Ranjan Sarma for Samaguri.
In contrast, the Congress party named its candidates for four seats on Sunday, leaving the Behali constituency to the united opposition alliance, which has selected Bibek Das from CPI(ML) Liberation. The Congress candidates include Tanzil Hussain for Samaguri, Dhrubajyoti Purakayastha for Dholai, Sanjib Warle for Sidli, and Brajenjit Sinha for Bongaigaon.
Notably, the BJP-AGP-UPPL coalition previously held four of the constituencies involved in the bypolls, with the Congress securing one.
Polling for the bypolls will take place on November 13, with the results to be counted on November 23.
