Stage set for third and final phase of polling for four Lok Sabha seats on May 7

The BJP is contesting in Guwahati, Its ally Asom Gana Parishad in Dhubri and Barpeta while another ally United People’s Party Liberal is contesting in Kokrajhar. The battle is expected to be tough in Guwahati and Dhubri. In Guwahati, two women – Bijuli Kalita Medhi of the BJP and Mira Borthakur Goswami of Congress are in the fray.

Ms Goswami is a firebrand leader who was with the BJP until being expelled in 2018. Ever since, she has been a strong critic of the saffron party. Ms Medhi is relatively lesser known among voters, but she has the advantage of being the ruling party candidate.

So far, three women have represented Guwahati in the Lok Sabha. The first to be elected was Renuka Devi Barkakati of the Janata Party in 1977. The BJP’s Bijoya Chakravarty was elected in 1999. The third is sitting MP of BJP Queen Oja, who was denied ticket this time.

Dhubri, which is a Muslim-majority seat in Western Assam close to the border with Bangladesh, braces for a contest between AIUDF chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, who is the three-time sitting MP, and former Congress minister Rakibul Hussain. If AIUDF claims to be the champion of Muslims, the Congress is fighting the seat to win over its hold among minorities in Western Assam.

Barpeta also has a sizable migrant Muslim population but the AGP is said to have an edge this time in the wake of changed demography of the constituency after the delimitation.

The party has fielded former minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury. He has a distinct record of representing the Bongaigaon seat in the Assembly for eight straight terms since 1985.

Mr Choudhury is up against Congress’ Deep Bayan. Sitting MP Abdul Khaleque of the Congress was denied the ticket by the party. Barpeta underwent massive demographic changes following delimitation last year. Many Muslim-dominated Assembly segments were sliced off while Hindu-dominated constituencies were added.

A straight contest is expected between the UPPL and the Bodoland People’s Front in the Kokrajhar seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The UPPL’s Joyanta Basumatary and the BPF’s Khampa Borgoyari are pitted against each other.

The ruling BJP and its ally concluded the election campaign by holding a massive motorbike rally in Guwahati. However, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa sarma could not hold his meetings in Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency due to inclement weather on Sunday.