In the first phase on April 11, the Lok Sabha polls will be conducted in five Parliamentary constituencies which are Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Tezpur, and Kaliabor. The second phase on April 18 will be held in five other Parliamentary Constituencies namely — Karimganj, Silchar, Autonomous District (Diphu), Mangaldoi, and Nagaon; the third and final phase will be held on April 23 comprising Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, and Gauhati constituencies.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has sparked protests in the Northeast particularly in Assam. The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 lapsed on February after the government failed to table it in the Rajya Sabha.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has quit the coalition with the BJP after the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. The BJP Assam unit has also opposed the bill. The aftermath of it saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi being shown black flags when he recently visited the state. With a sense of foreboding, thousands of indigenous people had queued up to check their names on the final draft of the state's National Register of Citizens after it was released. The NRC has enlivened the insider vs outsider debate in the state having a steady influx of Bangladeshi migrants which the BJP alleges is a plump vote bank of the Congress and other parties.
ALSO READ - Facts and figures: How West Bengal fared in 2004, 2009 & 2014 general elections
The Congress is evasive about forming an alliance with the Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). The grand old party will, however, contest all the 14 seats in the state.
Apart from NRC, militancy and communal tensions are the core issues affecting the state. Assam was the first state in the north-east wrested by the BJP after winning the 2014 general election and making it go the whole hog in increasing its political footprint in the other northeastern states.
Notably, the Election Commission for the first time in 2014 released the data on registration of transgenders as people other than male and female and figures released by the poll panel included 43 from Assam. Earlier, transgenders used to enlist themselves either as male or female.
Highlights of 2004 elections
- The United Progressive Alliance-led by Congress won 9 out of the 14 seats and had a vote share of 35.1%.
- The BJP had performed better in the 2004 Lok Sabha election, polling 22.94 per cent votes against the AGP’s 19.95 per cent.
- IND got a single seat and 13.4% votes.
- Of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, AGP won one seat while its ally BJP got four seats, two more than in 2004.
Highlights of 2009 elections
- Congress bagged seven seats and had a vote share of 34.9%,
- BJP won four seats accounting 16.2% vote share.
- AIUDF, AGP and BPF got a single seat and their voting percentage recorded was 16.1%, 14.6%, and 5.4% respectively.
- For the first time then PM Manmohan Singh cast his vote was in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in Guwahati. He skipped voting in the 2011 Assembly polls but voted in the assembly polls here in 2016.
Highlights of 2014 elections
- BJP had the largest bite by winning seven seats and their vote percentage was 36.5%.
- Congress won three seats and the vote percentage it accounted was 29.6%.
- AIUDF won three seats with 14.8% vote share.
- IND won a single seat and their vote percentage was 9.6%.
- Voting turnout in Assam was 80% which was one of highest in India.