Eight constituencies to witness ministerial battles

Guwahati, May 7. (PTI): Eight high-profile constituencies in Kamrup district will witness ministerial battles on May 10, with a Chief Minister, four ministers and three former ministers throwing the gauntlets.

The Asom Gana Parishad had won all eight constituencies in the 1996 poll, but with the former PWD minister, Atul Bora, and the former Home minister, Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, quitting the party following differences with the Chief Minister, the scenario has now considerably changed.

The Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, will take on his friend-turned-foe, Atul Bora, of the Trinamool Gana Parishad in the prestigious Dispur Assembly constituency where the contest will be triangular along with the Congress candidate, Captain Robin Bordoloi, also in the fray.

Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, another close confidante of Mahanta since the days of the foreigners' agitation, who fell out with him and left the party following serious differences, is battling hard to retain the Jalukbari constituency for the fourth consecutive term.

Phukan, who had earlier won landslide victories, is now contesting on a Nationalist Congress Party ticket and is facing serious challenge from the Congress candidate, Himanta Biswa Sarma. The AGP has left the seat for the BJP who has put up its State vice-president, Ramendranath Deka.

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Section  : State Elections
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