Guwahati, Oct 9 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election in Assam as per initial trends as vote counting continued on Friday, with All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal in second place and the Congress party trailing in third position, according to initial trends released by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
BJP candidate Debashish Sharma had secured 47,402 votes, while Ajmal received 21,107 votes, as per the latest available counting trends.
Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora was in third place with 6,544 votes.
Sharma was leading Ajmal by 26,295 votes, while his lead over Bora stood at 40,858 votes, according to the initial figures.
The counting process was underway at two centres in Nagaon district — Dawson Higher Secondary School and Government Boys’ School — amid tight security arrangements.
Counting began at 8 a.m. with postal ballots, followed by votes recorded through electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The Nagaon by-election has emerged as a three-cornered contest involving the BJP, the Congress party and the AIUDF, with the three parties fielding Sharma, Bora and Ajmal, respectively.
Ajmal, who heads the AIUDF, is a former Member of Parliament from the constituency and is seeking to secure the seat amid competition from the BJP and the Congress party.
The by-election was necessitated by a vacancy in the Nagaon parliamentary constituency after Congress’ Pradyut Bordoloi switched to the BJP just before the Assembly election earlier this year. This seat was won by Congress in the last two general elections in 2019 and 2024.
The ongoing counting exercise will determine which candidate secures the seat.
Election officials are supervising the counting process at both designated centres. Each centre has 14 tables to facilitate the counting.
The figures available so far reflect the initial trends, and the candidates’ positions may change as counting progresses.
The final outcome will be known after the completion of counting and the formal declaration of results by the election authorities.
The contest is being closely watched in Assam, with the BJP, Congress and AIUDF competing for representation in the Nagaon parliamentary constituency.
