Sarbananda Sonowal filed his nomination as the BJP candidate for Dibrugarh
Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Lok Sabha Deputy Leader of Opposition Gaurav Gogoi were among eleven contestants who filed their nomination papers on Tuesday for the first phase of Parliamentary polls to five constituencies on April 19, an election official said.
Mr Sonowal, the minister for Shipping, Ports, Waterways and Ayush, filed his nomination as the BJP candidate for the prestigious Dibrugarh constituency accompanied by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other leaders of the ruling alliance.
Gaurav Gogoi filed his nomination as the Congress candidate from Jorhat, with state party president Bhupen Kumar Borah and leader of opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia giving him company.
Altogether 12 candidates have so far filed their nominations in the state which will witness three-phase polls for 14 constituencies on April 19, 26 and May 7.
The constituencies going to the polls in the first phase are Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur and Kaziranga.
Besides the Chief Minister, Mr Sonowal was accompanied by President of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) Atul Bora, United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) leader Promode Bodo, sitting BJP MLA and Union Minister Rameswar Teli and state party President Bhabesh Kalita.
Braving inclement weather, BJP supporters came out in large numbers to attend a rally addressed by Sonowal before heading to the office of the Returning Officer here to file the nomination papers.
Sonowal, who had represented the constituency earlier in 2004 as the AGP candidate, will fight it out against the United Opposition Front, Assam (UOFA) candidate Lurinjyoti Gogoi who also filed his paper during the day.
Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said that the people of his constituency will repose their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi by ensuring his win in Dibrugarh and this will lead to a more developed region.
The chief minister said that he was ''pleased to accompany Sarbananda Dada (elder brother) during the filing of nominations. People will bless him by a historic margin and contribute to the prime minister's mission of crossing the 400-seat mark in Parliament''.
On the other hand, Congress candidate Gogoi, clad in a white kurta with several 'gamosas' (traditional hand towels) draped around his neck and his face splashed with Holi colours, walked in a procession from the Jorhat Stadium to file his nomination papers.
Besides Borah and Saikia, he was accompanied by Raijor Dal president and independent candidate Akhil Gogoi, deputy leader of the opposition in the assembly Congress's Dhubri candidate Rakibul Hussain and others.
Gogoi, a sitting MP of the Kaliabor seat which has been renamed as Kaziranga during the delimitation exercise, shifted to Jorhat which was once represented by his late father and former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for three terms in Parliament.
Before filing his nomination papers, he offered prayers at places of worship of different communities.
"I prayed for the peace and prosperity of my state of Assam'', Gogoi posted on X.
The Congress leader's main contestant will be BJP's sitting MP Topon Gogoi who will file his nominations on Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In Lakhimpur constituency, four candidates, including sitting BJP MP Pradan Baruah, filed their nomination papers during the day.
Pallab Pegu of the Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist (SUCI), Biren Bailung from Voters Party International (VPI) and Ghana Kanta Chutia of Trinamool Congress also filed their nominations from Lakhimpur.
In Kaziranga constituency, three candidates -- Roselina Tirkey of Congress, Sailen Chandra Malakar of Bharatiya Gana Parishad and an independent Binod Gogoi - filed their papers.
In Sonitpur, an independent Pradip Bhandari filed his nomination and he is the second candidate after Prem Lal Ganju of the Congress to have filed his papers so far for the seat.
For the first phase, the last date of filing of nominations is March 27, scrutiny of nominations will be on March 28 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is March 30.
In the outgoing Lok Sabha, BJP held nine seats, Congress three, AIUDF and an independent one each from the state.
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