The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its first list of 70 candidates for the Assam assembly polls and announced that allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) will contest on 26 and eight seats respectively.
Party general secretary Arun Singh said that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will contest from Majuli and minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari.
The BJP in the first list has replaced 11 sitting MLAs with new faces, Singh said.
Check out the first list here:
The Election Commission of India had last Friday announced that Assam will go to Assembly elections in three phases beginning March 27. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said: "In Assam, elections shall be held in three phases. The first phase of notification is March 2 and 47 seats in 12 districts will go to the polls. The last date of nomination March 9 and the date of poll is March 27. In the second phase, 39 constituencies in 13 districts will go to polls on April 1. Forty Assembly constituencies in 12 districts to go on polls on April 6. Votes will be counted on May 2."
For the uninitiated, the BJP scripted history in 2016 and formed the government for the first time in Assam ending Congress' 15-year rule. BJP and its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) won a combined 86 seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly. BJP bagged 60 seats, AGP 14, and BPF 12 seats. Congress, which ran the state for three straight terms under the leadership of Tarun Gogoi, could manage to win only 26 seats.
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