Agartala, Jun 17, 2022, TRIPURATIMES Desk

Agartala, June 17: As announced by the Election Commission of India, 8- Town Bordowali among four vacant assembly seats will go to by-elections on June 23 next. This constituency is going to witness the fight between a doctor and others.

As the political temperature is soaring high with intensified poll campaigns of various political parties, all eyes are now set at Bordowali constituency since Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha is contesting from this seat. The important part is that Dr. Saha, who is representing the ruling BJP, has to secure a win to continue as the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, he replaced Biplab Kumar Deb as the Chief Minister on May 14 last.
 
69-year-old Dr. Saha will fight against Congress-nominated candidate Ashis Saha (63) among others. Ashis Saha was elected as MLA from this seat in 2018 on BJP’s ticket. He secured 24,293 votes (61 per cent) followed by AIFB (left ally) candidate Biswanath Saha (13,115 votes). The AIFB has fielded Raghunath Sarkar (64), an undergraduate, in the poll battle this time.
 
In the last assembly polls, the Congress party secured only 1285 votes in this constituency while the number of votes received by SUCI(C) was 198.
 
The other candidates, who are in the fray from Bordowali, are- Sanhita Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Shibani Bhowmik (SUCI-C) and Ramkrishna Debnath of Amra Bangalee.
 
Dr. Saha, who is the incumbent BJP state president, holds a Masters of Dental Surgeon (MDS) Degree from KGMC, Lucknow. He is a renowned maxillofacial surgeon of the state. As per the affidavit filed by Dr. Saha to the Returning Officer, the value of his movable assets is Rs. 68,69,133 and immovable assets is Rs. 10,80,00,000.
 
The Congress candidate- Ashis Saha, who passed Higher Secondary in the year 1978, is a seasoned politician of the state. He is also known as a close aide of Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman. He holds movable assets of Rs. 6,82,641 and immovable assets of Rs. 37,00,000.
 
The highest qualification of the two women candidates- Sanhita Banerjee of AITC and Shibani Bhowmik of SUCI(C) is B.Com and Higher Secondary respectively. The market value of 52-year-old Banerjee’s movable assets is Rs. 1,76,028 while Bhowmik (62) does not hold any movable or immovable asset, as per the affidavit available in Election Commission’s web official portal.
 
The AIFB-nominated candidate- Raghunath Sarkar is also an undergraduate and he holds movable assets of Rs. 45,10,188 and immovable assets of Rs. 29,25,000.
 
According to an official report, total electors 46,583-- 22210 male voters and 24,373 female voters—are enrolled to cast their votes in the ensuing by-polls form Bordowali constituency. There are 933 voters above 80 years and 35 service voters. The polls will be conducted in 56 polling stations.
 
While all the candidates are going door-to-door seeking votes, many of the people are predicting an easy win for Dr. Saha with a good margin of votes. Meanwhile, the poll results will be declared on June 26.