Assam polls: BJP releases list of 70 candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday released its first list of 70 candidates for the Assam assembly polls and announced that allies Asom Gana Parishad and United People's Party Liberal will contest on 26 and eight seats respectively.

Party general secretary Arun Singh told a press conference that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will contest from Majuli and minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari, constituencies these two top BJP state leaders currently represent in the 126-member assembly.

Besides Sonowal and Sarma, leaders of the Asom Gana Parishad and the United People's Party Liberal were also present at the press conference.

The BJP in the first list has replaced 11 sitting MLAs with new faces, Singh said.

The three-phase Assam assembly polls will be held on March 27, April 1 and April 6. In the first phase, 47 constituencies will go to polls, in the second phase, polling will be held in 39 constituencies and in the third phase, polling will be held in 40 constituencies.

The BJP central election committee had met here on Thursday to finalise these names.

The saffron party is pulling out all the stops to retain power in the state where it had formed government for the first time in 2016.