BJP wrests Silchar from Congress in Assam bypoll

Opposition BJP wrested Silchar constituency from the Congress while the All India United Democratic Front and the ruling Congress retained Jamunamukh and Lakhipur seats respectively in the Assembly by-polls in Assam.

The election office here said that BJP's Dilip Kumar Paul wrested Silchar from the Congress by defeating its nominee Arun Dutta Majumdar by 36,956 votes.

The AIUDF retained the Jamunamukh seat with its nominee Abdur Rahim Ajmal, AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal's son, defeating Congress' Bashir Uddin Laskar by 22,959 votes.
Congress' Rajdeep Goala retained the Lakhipur seat defeating his nearest BJP rival Sanjay Thakur by 9,172 votes.

While the by-poll in Lakhipur was necessitated by the death of Rajdeep Goala's father and sitting MLA Dinesh Prasad Goala, the other seats of Silchar and Jamunamukh became vacant when the respective MLAs Sushmita Dev and Mohammad Sirajuddin Ajmal were elected to the Lok Sabha in the last election.

The 126-member Assam Assembly now has 78 Congress, 18 AIUDF and six BJP MLAs, besides 12 Bodo Peoples Front (BPF), nine Asom Gana Parishad, two Independents and one TMC legislator.