Three-phase polls for 14 LS seats in Assam

Guwahati, Mar 16 (PTI) Polls for the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam will be held in three phases beginning April 19, according to the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission of India on Saturday.

Five constituencies each will go to polls on April 19 and 26, while voting for four seats will take place on May 7.

In the first phase, Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur will be held on April 19. Voters of Darrang-Udalguri, Diphu (ST), Karimganj, Silchar (SC) and Nagaon will exercise their franchise in the second phase.

In the third and final phase on May 7, polling will be held in Kokrajhar (ST), Dhubri, Barpeta and Guwahati constituencies, according to the schedule announced by the ECI.

The notification for the first phase will be issued on March 20, and the last date for filing nominations is March 27. The scrutiny of nominations will be on March 28 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 30.

In the second phase, notification will be issued on March 28, the last date for filing nominations is April 4, scrutiny on April 5 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 8.

In the third phase, notification will be issued on April 12, the last date for filing of nominations is April 19, scrutiny on April 20 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature will be April 24.

Votes of all seats will be counted on June 4.

In the outgoing Lok Sabha, the BJP has nine seats, Congress three and AIUDF one, while there is one independent legislator from Assam.