By-poll election has started in Assam from Wednesday

While polling was by and large peaceful in four seats, allegations of violence and rigging were made by the ruling BJP and the opposition candidates in the Samaguri seat.

The voting for bye-election to five assembly seats in Assam took place on Wednesday without any major incident of violence, officials said.

There are 909,057 voters in the five seats who will decide the fate of 34 candidates in the fray.

Bye-elections are taking place for the Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon, Sidli and Dholai seats, which became vacant earlier this year after the MLAs from those seats won the Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.

While polling was by and large peaceful in the other four seats, allegations of violence and rigging were made by the ruling BJP and the opposition candidates in the Samaguri seat, which had witnessed clashes between supporters of both parties ahead of polling.

Congress member of Parliament (MP) from Dhubri, Rakibul Hussain, whose son Tanzil is contesting from the Samaguri seat had filed a complaint to the police that some armed miscreants reached him on Tuesday night and threatened him and his family.

“I sent a message to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday night informing him about it and seeking protection,” Hussain told reporters on Wednesday.

The Congress also alleged that the BJP MP from Tezpur, Ranjit Dutta, had threatened a few of their supporters in the Behali seat. Dutta has denied the allegation.

The BJP has fielded candidates in three of the five seats (Dholai, Samaguri and Behali) while its ruling partners United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) fielded candidates in the Sidli and Bongaigaon seats, respectively.

In the 2021 assembly polls, the Dholai and Behali seats were won by the BJP whileAGP and UPPL won the Bongaigaon and Sidli seats. The Samaguri seat was won by the Congress.