GUWAHATI, March 26 - A total of 60 candidates have filed nominations for the five Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam which will go to the polls in the second phase on April 18.
Today was the last date for filing of nomination papers in the five constituencies.
The five constituencies that will go to the polls in the second phase are Silchar, Karimganj, Autonomous District (Diphu), Nagaon and Mangaldoi.
Filing of nominations for the five constituencies which will go to the polls in the second phase got over at 3 pm today. The nomination process passed off peacefully.
The highest number of nominations for the first phase has been filed for the Karimganj constituency. As many as 19 candidates have filed their nomination papers for Karimganj.
They are Bulan Suklabaidya (Independent), Prabash Chandra Sarkar (Socialist Unity Centre of India or SUCI), Parikshit Roy (Independent), Nikhil Ranjan Das (Hindusthan Nirman Dal), Keshab Lal Das (Independent), Ajoy Kumar Sarkar (All India Forward Bloc or AIFB), Raju Das (Independent), Hari Lal Rabi Das (Independent), Anupam Singha (Independent), Pulak Malakar (Independent), Sanjoy Roy (Independent), Uttam Kumar Das (Independent), Kripanath Mallah (Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP), Ram Narayan Suklabaidya (Independent), Rabindra Chandra Das (Independent), Satyajit Das (Independent), Radheshyam Biswas (All India United Democratic Front or AIUDF), Chandan Das (All India Trinamool Congress or AITC) and Swarup Das (Indian National Congress or INC).
A total of 14 candidates have filed nominations for the Silchar constituency. Those in fray in Silchar are Nazia Yasmin (National People�s Party or NPP), Badrul Islam Barbhuiya (AIFB), Shuvadip Datta (Independent), Hitabrata Roy (AITC), Ashitava Datta (Independent), Puran Lal Goala (Independent), Nazmul Haque Laskar (Independent), Ashutosh Bhattacharjee (Independent), Mahendra Chandra Das (Independent), Sabindra Das (Independent), Dr Rajdeep Roy (BJP), Sushmita Dev (INC), Dilip Kumar (Independent) and Shyam Deo Kurmi (SUCI).
There were a total of 13 nominations filed for the Mangaldoi constituency. Those in fray from the seat are Jayanta Kumar Kalita (Independent), Maniram Basumatary (Hindusthan Nirman Dal), Gandheswar Mushahary (Voters� Party International), Bhupen Chandra Das (Purbanchal Janata Party Secular), Ainul Haque (Asom Jana Morcha), Swarnalata Chaliha (SUCI), Kazi Nekib Ahmed (Independent), Sudhendu Mohan Talukdar (AITC), Ratul Ahmed (Republican Party of India - Athawale), Dilip Saikia (BJP), Bhubaneswar Kalita (INC), Prodeep Kumar Daimary (United People�s Party Liberal) and Biren Basak (Bharatiya Gana Parishad).
A total of eight candidates have filed nominations for the Nagaon constituency. They are Rupak Sarma (BJP), Pradyut Bordoloi (INC), Zakir Hussain (Independent), Ajgar Ali (Purbanchal Janata Party Secular), Sukanta Mazumdar (Bharatiya Gana Parishad), Sohadeb Das (AITC), Golapi Saikia (Voter�s Party International) and Saiful Islam Choudhary (Asom Jana Morcha).
Altogether six candidates have filed nominations for the Diphu seat. They are Holiram Terang (ASDC), Dewan Rongpi (NPP), Lien Khochon (Independent), Jones Engti Kathar (APHLC), Biren Sing Ingti (INC) and Haren Sing Bey (BJP).
The nomination papers for the second phase will be scrutinized tomorrow and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 29. The constituencies in the second phase will go to the polls on April 18. Counting of votes of all phases will be held on May 23.
A total of 68,36,496 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the five constituencies of the second phase. Among them 35,21,244 are male voters, 33,15,071 are female voters and 181 are from the �third gender�. The total number of polling stations in the five constituencies is 8,992.
The total electorate of Mangaldoi constituency is 17,75,182, Nagaon has 17,74,467 voters, Karimganj has 13,13,469 voters, Silchar has 11,89,667 voters and Diphu has 7,83,711 voters.
On the five constituencies going to the polls in the second phase, the BJP had won from Mangaldoi and Nagaon, while the Congress had won from Silchar and Diphu and the AIUDF had emerged victorious from Karimganj in the last General Elections in 2014.
Meanwhile, the scrutiny of nomination papers in the constituencies of Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Tezpur and Kaliabor, which are going to the polls in the first phase, was carried out today.
Nominations of two candidates who had filed papers for the Tezpur seat were found invalid and rejected.
The two candidates whose nominations were rejected are Krishna Hari Paul of All India Hindustan Congress Party and Ranvijay Kumar Rai of Bahujan Mukti Party. Altogether, 10 candidates had filed their nomination from Tezpur.
The nomination scrutiny of one candidate of Lakhimpur seat � Anil Borgohain of Congress � has been �adjourned� for technical reasons till 5 pm tomorrow.
All nominations filed for the other four constituencies were found valid.
After scrutiny, a total of 43 candidates remain in fray in the five seats going to the polls in the first phase on April 11. Among them, 12 candidates remain in fray for the Lakhimpur constituency, eight candidates each for Tezpur, Jorhat and Dibrugarh constituencies, and seven candidates remain in fray for the Kaliabor constituency.
The Election Commission of India will issue the notification for the third phase of elections on March 28. The last date for filing of nominations in the constituencies of the third phase is April 4.
In Assam, four constituencies (Guwahati, Barpeta, Dhubri and Kokrajhar) will vote in the third phase. Polling for the third phase will take place on April 23.
