Guwahati, March 24 – The nominations of three Congress candidates, including that of the Jalukbari seat where Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is contesting in the Assam assembly elections, have been rejected during scrutiny on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission.
A total of 18 nomination papers have been cancelled as of 4:30 pm. However, the process of scrutinizing nomination papers is not yet complete.
According to the ECI website, the nominations of Congress candidates Ananda Narah from the Dhakuakhana seat, Nirmal Langthasa from Haflong, and Bidisha Neog from Jalukbari have been rejected.
The Dhakuakhana seat is currently held by former minister Naba Kumar Doley of the BJP.
The candidature of BJP cabinet minister Nandita Garlosa as a Congress nominee for Haflong has been accepted. Garlosa joined the opposition party on Sunday night and filed her nomination the very next day.
The reasons for rejection have not been cited on the ECI website.
Among others whose nominations have been rejected so far are three candidates each of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Voters Party International, one each of SUCI (Communist) and Apni Janta Party, and eight Independents.
A total of 1389 nomination papers were submitted by over 815 candidates for the 126-member state Assembly, with several nominees filing more than one set of papers. Elections will be held on April 9, and votes will be counted on May 4.
The last date for withdrawing candidature is March 26.