Cong, BJP, AIDUF win one seat each in Assam bypolls

PTI Guwahati, September 16 [dropcap]T[/dropcap]wo sons from separate political parties today won the Jamunamukh and Lakhipur seats during the bypolls in Assam, following the family tradition. Opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) President Badruddin Ajmal’s son Abdur Rahim Ajmal retained Jamunamukh in his maiden foray into electoral politics. The seat was earlier held by ‘attar’ perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal’s brother Mohammad Sirajuddin Ajmal who was elected to the Lok Sabha in the last election.Ruling Congress’ Rajdeep Goala fighting for the first time for his late father Dinesh Prasad Goala’s Lakhipur constituency also retained the seat defeating his nearest BJP rival Sanjay Thakur. Local BJP leader and Silchar town committee president Dilip Kumar Paul wrested Silchar seat from the Congress by defeating its nominee Arun Dutta Majumdar. The Silchar seat was vacated by sitting Congress MLA Sushmita Dev, daughter of former union minister Santosh Mohan Dev, on her election to the Lok Sabha also in the last election. The 126-member Assam Assembly now has 78 Congress, 18 AIUDF, six BJP, 12 Bodo Peoples Front (BPF), nine Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), two Independents and one TMC legislator. CPM wins in Tripura Agartala: CPM candidate PrabhatChowdhury trounced his nearest INC candidate MailafruMog by 15,971 votes in the Manu (ST) assembly constituency of Tripura. While the CPM candidate secured 21,759 votes, the INC aspirant secured 5,788 votes, joint chief electoral officer Debasish Modak said. The constituency fell vacant after former industries and commerce minister Jitendra Chowdhury was elected to the Lok Sabha. Independent candidate wins in Sikkim Gangtok: Independent candidate RN Chamling won Rangang-Yangang Assembly seat by 708 votes defeating his nearest Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) nominee Kumari Mangar in Sikkim. While Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling’s younger brother RN Chamling, who fought the seat as an Independent candidate polled 4,788 votes, Kumari Mangar of ruling SDF got 4080 votes. BJP’s Bikash Basnett came third with 351 votes. Bishnu Prasad Adhikari of Congress finished last with only 28 votes, less than 46 votes cast under NOTA. The by-election was necessitated following relinquishing of the seat by the Chief Minister as he retained Namchi-Singithang constituency which he had also won in the last Assembly Election.