Assam: Final electoral rolls for assembly bypolls to be published on August 8

Guwahati, Jul 19 (PTI) Assam's Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel on Friday said the final electoral roll for by-elections to five assembly constituencies will be published on August 8.

Addressing a press conference here, Goel said the bypolls would take place in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri as these seats fell vacant after their MLAs won the Lok Sabha elections.

"We have started the preparation work for the by-election, which has to be conducted within six months of the declaration of Lok Sabha results. The elections in these constituencies will take place as per pre-delimitation status," he added.

The recently concluded Lok Sabha polls were the first elections after the EC carried out the delimitation exercise in the state that was criticised by the opposition parties, alleging that it was done to help the ruling BJP.

Goel said the Election Department will share pre-draft electoral rolls of pre-delimitation constituencies with recognised political parties on Saturday and will seek their feedback by July 27.

"The draft rolls will be published on July 30 and claims and objections will be received till August 10. This time claims and objections will be received offline as the online system was updated with post-delimitation data for the Lok Sabha polls," he said.

After disposal of claims and objections by August 19, the final electoral roll would be published on August 20, the CEO said.

Asked when the bypoll is likely, Goel said: "It will be announced by the EC. However, with these dates that were fixed by the ECI, I believe it should take place in September." Lok Sabha MPs from BJP Parimal Suklabaidya and Ranjit Dutta were MLAs of the Dholai and Behali constituencies.

Its ally Asom Gana Parishad's Phani Bhusan Choudhury represented Bongaigaon for eight consecutive terms since 1985 before stepping into Parliament for the first time.

Another BJP partner United People's Party Liberal's Joyanta Basumatary was an MLA from Sidli constituency before joining the Lok Sabha.

Congress MP Rakibul Hussain, who won the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat for a record over 10.12 lakh votes, was an MLA from Samaguri for five consecutive terms. PTI TR TR SOM