Assam Bypoll: Voting Underway in Nagaon, EVM Glitch Reported at Morigaon Booth

Polling began at 7 a.m. across 2,112 polling stations in the constituency, where around 19.02 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.

Voters turned up at polling stations across urban and rural areas as voting proceeded without any major disruption.

BJP candidate Debashish Sharma cast his vote at Mayong Higher Secondary School shortly after polling began. After voting, Sharma made an emotional appeal to voters to participate in the electoral process and stressed the importance of exercising their franchise.

Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora voted at a polling station in Jajori Majgaon. After casting her ballot, Bora expressed confidence about her prospects and said she expected support from voters belonging to both minority and majority communities.

Several other political leaders also exercised their franchise during the early hours. Morigaon MLA Ramakanta Deuri voted at Deobaguri Primary School, while Rupohihat MLA Nurul Huda cast his ballot at Roumari Maktab School.

Meanwhile, polling was briefly disrupted at Polling Station No. 72 in East Sidhabari in Morigaon district after an EVM malfunction was reported.

According to officials, the technical issue occurred after five voters had already cast their votes. Voters remained at the polling station while officials worked to resolve the problem and restart the voting process.

The Nagaon by-election has emerged as a closely watched contest, with the BJP, Congress and AIUDF seeking to consolidate their respective support bases across the constituency.

Polling is scheduled to continue until the designated closing time, with authorities maintaining arrangements at polling stations throughout the constituency.

The by-election was necessitated after sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from the Lok Sabha on March 20 after leaving the Congress and joining the BJP.

Bordoloi later contested the Dispur Assembly seat in the Assam Assembly elections and won, leaving the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat vacant and triggering the bypoll.

The constituency has been held by the Congress since 2019 and is now witnessing a direct three-way contest involving the BJP, Congress and AIUDF.

Congress had retained the seat in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, Bordoloi defeated BJP candidate Rupak Sharma by a narrow margin, securing around 49.53 per cent of the vote compared with Sharma's 48.41 per cent.

Bordoloi strengthened the Congress position in 2024, polling 7,88,850 votes, or 51.29 per cent of valid votes, against BJP candidate Suresh Borah's 5,76,619 votes. The Congress won by a margin of more than 2.12 lakh votes.

The current by-election is therefore a significant test for the Congress following Bordoloi's departure, while the entry of AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal adds another dimension to the three-way contest.