Assam, which provided a foothold for the BJP to gain entry into the northeast, is polling for five parliamentary constituencies on Thursday in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which won seven seats in the last Lok Sabha election, and Congress are the two key players in Assam. The Narendra Modi-led party formed a government in Assam in 2016 as it pushed the Congress out of its stronghold.
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Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) of perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) are the other prominent parties in the state.
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The AGP and BPF have come together with the ruling BJP to fight the Lok Sabha election 2019, while Congress and AIUDF continue to challenge them. The BJP, AGP and BPF are against the Congress and AIUDF for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Also read: Here is all you need to know about Assam
Polling is being held in Assam after massive state-wide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 (CAB), which proposes to give citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Stiff resistance from student bodies, indigenous groups and even by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allies in Assam and other states of the northeast deterred the government from tabling the legislation, which is now set to lapse, the issue is expected to dominate the political discourse in the state.
Read: Citizenship bill an issue in Assam’s remote Karimganj seat
{{/usCountry}}Read: Citizenship bill an issue in Assam’s remote Karimganj seat
{{/usCountry}}The National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) drive undertaken by the government to determine the citizens of Assam is another issue which could also affect the poll outcome.
Karimganj, Silchar, Autonomous District, Mangaldoi and Nawgong Lok Sabha seats are polling on Thursday and have substantial Muslim voters. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won Mangaldoi and Nawgong, seats. The AIUDF won in Karimganj and Congress won Silchar and Autonomous District.
The Nowgong Lok Sabha constituency has been held the BJP for the last 20 years. Rupak Sharma is fighting to retain the seat for the BJP and is pitted against Pradyut Bordoloi of the Congress.
Read: BJP seeks to retain power in Assam’s Mangaldoi
Mangaldoi is another constituency where the BJP won since 2004 and this year Dilip Saikia of its ally AGP is contesting from the Lok Sabha seat. Saikia is up against Bhubaneswar Kalita of the Congress.
Three-time MP and Congress leader Biren Singh Engti will aim to retain the Autonomous District Lok Sabha seat he won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He fighting Harensingh Bey of the BJP.
Sushmita Dev of the Congress, the sitting member of Parliament from the Silchar Lok Sabha seat, is contesting against Rajdeep Roy Bengali of the BJP.
In the Karimganj Lok Sabha seat, reserved seat for members of Scheduled Castes, Radheshyam Biswas of the AIUDF will face Kripanath Mallah of the BJP and Congress leader Swarup Das. Biswas had won the Bengali-dominated seat in 2014.
The votes will be counted on May 23 along with the rest of the country.