Guwahati, Nov 29, 2024, IANS

Guwahati, Nov 29 (IANS) Five newly elected MLAs in Assam took oath as members of the state Assembly on Friday. The oath was administered by Speaker of the Assam Assembly Biswajit Daimari. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other top leaders of BJP and its allies were present in the oath-taking ceremony. The MLAs -- Diplu Ranjan Sarmah, Nihar Ranjan Das, Diganta Ghatowal, Diptimayee Choudhury and Nirmal Kumar Brahma. They won the recently held by-election in the state. Five Assembly seats in Assam -- Dholai, Behali, Samaguri, Bongaigaon, Sidli went to bypolls as the legislators in these seats were elected to the Lok Sabha in the general elections this year. Except for Samaguri, other four constituencies were held by the BJP and its allies -- Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL). The BJP has retained two constituencies -- Dholai and Behali, with Nihar Ranjan Das and Diganta Ghatowal comfortably winning these two constituencies in the by-election. The ruling party breached Congress bastion in Samaguri with the win of Diplu Ranjan Sarmah here. AGP also won the Bongaigaon seat by a margin of 35,164 votes. Diptimayee Choudhury won here on AGP’s ticket. Her husband and now a Lok Sabha MP from Barpeta -- Phanibhusan Choudhury was a six-time MLA from the Bongaigaon seat. Another ally of the BJP, UPPL also won the by-election in Sidli Assembly constituency, defeating his nearest candidate by a difference of 37,016 votes. Congress drew a blank in the bypolls despite contesting all five seats that went to by-elections. The opposition party lost its bastion in Samaguri assembly constituency as Congress heavyweight and Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain’s son Tanzil Hussain conceded defeat to BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah. Rakibul Hussain alleged that the BJP conducted wide-scale rigging in the byelection in Samaguri Assembly seat. Hussain has been representing Samaguri in the assembly since 2001, and he vacated this seat after winning the Lok Sabha polls this year. Rakibul Hussain said: "Votes were rigged in numerous polling booths under Samaguri Assembly constituency. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma used administrative machinery to ensure the defeat of my son in the by-election."