53 candidates file nominations for first phase Assam Lok Sabha polls

Guwahati:  Altogether 53 candidates filed nominations in Assam for the first phase of the polls to five parliamentary constituencies on April seven for which nominations ended on Friday, election office sources said.  The constituencies going to polls in the first phase were Tezpur where ten candidates filed nominations, Kaliabor where 13 candidates did so and eight each in Jorhat and Dibrugarh and 14 in Lakhimpur.
Prominent candidates who filed their papers during the day were two union ministers Pawan Singh Ghatowar from Dibrugarh and Ranee Narah from Lakhimpur.
Controversial former Congress MP Moni Kumar Subba filed nomination as an independent from Tezpur, BJP state unit President Sarbananda Sonowal from Lakhimpur, sitting AGP MP from Tezpur Joseph Toppo and former AGP MP Dr Arun Sarmah from Kaliabor.
Prominent candidates whose fate would be decided in the first phase were Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s son Gaurav from Kaliabor, former union minister B K Handique who is making a bid to retain the Jorhat seat for the seventh consecutive term, former legislator and ULFA leader Jiten Gogoi contesting as an independent and Congress MLA from Bihpuria Bhupen Kumar Borah.
Scrutiny of the nominations will be done tomorrow and the last date for withdrawal is on March 24.
Filing of nominations for second phase of polls is scheduled on April 12 for the three Parliamentary constituencies – Karimganj (SC),  Silchar and Autonomous District (ST). (PTI)