Congress, BJP and AGP main players in Assam polls

The forthcoming Parliamentary elections to the 14 constituencies in Assam are poised to be a show of strength between 3 major parties.

The forthcoming Parliamentary elections to the 14 constituencies in Assam are poised to be a show of strength between the three major contenders - Congress, opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP.

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Assam, an extremely sensitive state due to prevailing insurgency, will go to polls in two phases with voters in six constituencies to elect their candidates on April 30.

Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Guwahati, Mangaldoi, Nagaon and Tezpur, all in Lower and Central Assam, will go to the polls in the first phase, nominations for which will end tomorrow.

Congress swept the polls in the last elections winning 10 of the constituencies while the AGP was completely wiped out with its candidates failing to capture a single seat but the BJP made considerable inroads winning two seats, including the prestigious Gauhati Parliamentary constituency.

The BJP hopes to make further gains in the forthcoming elections and has fielded candidates in 12 of the 14 seats leaving the Kaliabor constituency for Janata Dal (United) and supporting the sitting MP S K Bwismuthiary in Kokrajhar.

The Congress, however, has been rocked by infighting over the selection of candidates and is yet to formally announce the candidate for the Gauhati seat though party sources said that senior leader Kirip Chaliha has been selected for the seat.