Balloting begins in Assam

Guwahati, April 12 (IANS) Balloting for three Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam began Saturday at 7 a.m., officials said.

Nearly 3 million are eligible to vote at 3,698 polling stations across the three constituencies of Silchar, Karimganj and Diphu (Autonomous District).

The Karimgamj Lok Sabha seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Diphu (Autonomous District) is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

For the second phase of polls, 37 candidates are in the fray. Polling for five constituencies was held April 7. The last phase of polling for remaining six seats takes place in the state April 24.

Bharatiya Janata Party's sitting MP Kabindra Purkayastha, Congress legislator Sushmita Deb, who is the daughter of veteran Congress leader and former union minister Santosh Mohan Deb, and Kutub Ahmed Mazumder of the All India United Democratic Front (AIDUF) are in the fray for the Silchar seat.

In Karimganj, 15 candidates, including BJP's Krishna Das, Congress' Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya and Radheshyam Biswas of the AIUDF are contesting.

Five candidates, including the Congress' sitting member Biren Singh Engti and the BJP's Joyram Engleng, are fighting it out in the Diphu constituency.