Assam: BJP's Devashish Sharma leads by over 43,418 votes in Nagaon LS bypoll

GUWAHATI: BJP candidate Devashish Sharma was leading by over 43,418 votes over his nearest rival, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, as counting of votes polled in the by-election to Nagaon Lok Sabha seat was underway on Friday, officials said.

While Sharma, a former IAS officer, polled 92,345 votes, Ajmal secured 48,927 votes and Congress nominee Sibamoni Bora bagged 12,982 votes.

Counting of votes began at 8 am on Friday amid tight security, officials said.

The process started with postal ballots, followed by votes recorded in EVMs.

Counting is being held at two centres -- Dawson Higher Secondary School and Nagaon Government Boys' School in Nagaon -- with 14 tables at each centre. Tight security arrangements have been made at both the centres, and all candidates and political parties have been directed to seek permission from the district administration before taking out any procession. The main contest is between Sharma, Bora and Ajmal. A total of 15 candidates are in the fray in the bypoll.

The voter turnout in the October 6 by-election was 76.19 per cent. The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigned and successfully contested the assembly elections from Dispur on a BJP ticket earlier this year.

The result, however, will not impact the balance of power in Parliament.

The Nagaon constituency has 19.05 lakh electors, including 9.43 lakh women and 50 third-gender voters, who were eligible to cast their votes across 2,312 polling stations.