Guwahati, Nov 2: The ruling BJP and its ally UPPL secured one seat each in the Assam by-polls and the two parties are leading in the other three seats as well on Tuesday afternoon, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI).
BJP candidate Sushanta Borgohain, who switched over from the Congress, won the Thowra seat by a margin of 30,561, while United People's Party, Liberal (UPPL) nominee Jiron Basumatary pocketed the Gossaigaon constituency by a margin of 28,252 votes.
BJP candidates Phanidhar Talukdar (Bhabanipur) and Rupjyoti Kurmi (Mariani) were leading by unassailable margins, while Jolen Daimary of the UPPL was also all set to bag the Tamulpur seat. Borgohain bagged 54,956 votes, while his nearest rival, the Raijor Dal's Dhaijya Konwar, who fought as an Independent, managed to secure 24,395 votes.
Borgohain became the Congress MLA of Thowra constituency in Sivasagar district for the first time in 2011. He lost in the 2016 election, but won the 2021 assembly polls by defeating incumbent BJP MLA Kushal Dowari by 2,006 votes. He resigned from the Congress on July 30, citing "changed internal political atmosphere" within the party.
In Gossaigaon, Basumtary polled 58,769 votes while the Congress' Jowel Tudu came second with 30,517 votes. With these victories, the BJP's strength in the 126-member Assam assembly increased to 60 and UPPL's to six. The other partner in the ruling coalition, Asom Gana Parishad, which had not fielded any candidate in the by-elections, has nine MLAs.
On the opposition bench, the Congress' strength is 27, AIUDF has 15 members, BPF has three and the CPI(M) has one MLA. There is one Independent MLA as well.
