Several top leaders in fray as Assam prepares to go to final leg of its assembly elections

By ANI

GUWAHATI: With the hustings coming to a halt on Sunday, Assam is all prepared to go to the final leg of its three-phased elections for 126-seat Assembly on April 6.

This phase will decide the fate of 337 candidates across 40 constituencies of 12 districts in the state, including the senior minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Himanta Biswa Sarma in the Jalukbari constituency.

Apart from Sarma, BJP Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary from Dharampur, Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya from Gauhati East, and BJP state chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass from Patacharkuchi are also in the fray in the final phase.

Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidate Phanibhushan Choudhary from Bongaigaon, Bodoland People’s Front’s (BPF) Pramila Rani Brahma from Kokrajhar-East, Chandan Brahma from Sidli, and independent candidate and Lok Sabha MP Naba Hira Kumar Sarania from Barama will also be facing the test of their luck on Tuesday.

Sitting BJP MLAs Atul Bora and film director and producer Suman Haripriya are in the contest from Dispur and Hajo respectively.

The fate of sitting Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, former AGP MLA from Chaygaon Kamala Kalita, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) working president Pabindra Deka, who is contesting from Pathacharkuchi, will also be decided in this phase.

Kokrajhar’s Lok Sabha MP Naba Kumar Sarania, who is contending from Barama as an Independent candidate, will also see his fortunes meeting its fate.

This year, the main contest is between the alliances led by the BJP and Congress.

The BJP-led alliance includes the AGP and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL).

The Congress has stitched a broad alliance called the Mahajath, which includes Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, the Anchalik Gana Marcha (AGM) and the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF).

Jailed activist Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal has stitched an alliance with Assam Jatiya Parishad.

The BJP is banking on the performance of the Sarbanand Sonowal government in the state in the past five years, the initiatives of the central government, and the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

One of the major issues in the campaign run-up was Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) with the state BJP chief saying that the party will soon implement CAA. However, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi maintained that they will not let the CAA be implemented in the state.

As many as 320 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) coys have been deployed in the third phase in order to ensure a free and fair election.

Out of these 320 CAPF coys, 30 are reserved for strong room duty and other law and order duties.

These companies include the Central Armed Police Force (CRPF), State Armed Police (SAP) of other states, and Assam.