Ajmal 9 others file nominations for third phase of LS polls in Assam

Guwahati, Apr 17 (PTI) Ten candidates, including AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal, filed their nomination papers on Wednesday for the four Assam Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in the third and final phase in the state on May 7, an election official said.
    Altogether 18 candidates have so far filed their papers for the four constituencies -- Dhubri, Kokrajhar (ST), Barpeta and Guwahati.In Dhubri, five candidates filed their papers during the day, while one person filed on Tuesday, taking the total number of contestants in the constituency to six so far.
    Ajmal is Dhubri's sitting MP for three consecutive terms and is likely to face competition from Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain and AGP's Zaved Islam, while the other candidates who filed their nominations during the day are SUCI(C)'s Surat Zaman Mandal, Voters Party International's Tahijur Rahman along with independents Farooq Khan and Sukur Ali.
    In Kokrajhar (ST), two candidates, Garjen Mushahary of the Congress and an independent Jon Das, filed their nominations, while three had filed the previous day, taking the total to five so far.
    In Barpeta, Congress candidate Deep Bayan filed his papers, while an independent candidate submitted his papers the previous day, taking the total to two so far.
    In the Guwahati constituency, Dipak Kumar Boro of Voters Party International and an independent candidate Arpita Choudhury filed their nominations on Wednesday, while two others filed their nomination papers on Tuesday.
    The last date of filing of nomination is April 19 and the scrutiny will be carried out the following day.
    The last date for withdrawal of nomination is April 22.
    Polling in Assam will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7.
    In the outgoing Lok Sabha, BJP held nine seats, Congress three, while the AIUDF and an independent have one each from the state.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)