Barpeta Lok Sabha elections: BJP-AGP alliance eyes maiden victory against Congress, CPI(M)

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Barpeta, one of the 14 parliamentary constituencies in Assam, is among the four seats in the state where voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is being held in the third phase on May 7. Till 7 pm, the voter turnout at the constituency was at 76.42%.

In the 2024 general elections, Barpeta is witnessing a contest between Congress’ Deep Bayan, Manoranjan Talukdar, a sitting MLA of CPI(M) and Phani Bhushan Choudhury, who is an eight-time MLA and veteran leader of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a member of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Since 1952, the BJP and AGP have never registered a win from this seat, which has majorly elected Congress or CPI(M), except for 2014 when Sirajuddin Ajmal, who is the brother of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal, was elected to the Lower House of Parliament. However, the ‘demographic change’ brought in the constituency through the delimitation exercise has made the BJP and AGP confident about winning Barpeta for the first time.

Meanwhile, looking at the demographic change, the Congress has replaced its sitting MP Abdul Khaleque with Deep Bayan, who is a Hindu.

The Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency comprises 10 Assembly segments and reportedly has more than 19 lakh voters.

Voting date

Polling for the 2024 general elections in Assam is being conducted in three phases. Voting in 10 seats across the state was held in the first two phases on April 19 and 26, while the remaining four constituencies, including Barpeta, will vote in the third phase on May 7. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.

During the 2019 polls, Barpeta saw a total voter turnout of 86.57%.

List of candidates

In the 2024 elections, 14 candidates are in the fray for the Barpeta seat. Here’s a look at some of the prominent names contesting from this constituency:

2019 results

Congress’ Abdul Khaleque won the Barpeta seat in Assam during the 2019 elections, defeating the rival AGP candidate Kumar Deepak Das by over 1.40 lakh votes.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow