Lok Sabha election: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal casts vote in Dibrugarh

Dibrugarh (Assam) [India], April 19 (ANI): Union Minister and BJP candidate from Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency, Sarbananda Sonowal exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Dibrugarh, Assam during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi is the opposition's candidate for this seat
After casting his vote, Sarbananda Sonowal said, "We are seeing a lot of public participation this time, so I think the public is happy. PM Modi has worked to bring change into people's lives. People need employment and development and PM Modi has done everything..."
"People will happily participate in this voting process... Congress should look at its condition, they are going to get less seats than before..., " he further said.
The Union Minister also performed pooja at his residence in Dibrugarh before casting his vote.
Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 began at 7:00 am on Friday across 102 parliamentary constituencies spread over 21 states and Union Territories. Voting will end at 6 pm.
The Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency is among the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state. In Assam, voting will be conducted in 3 phases for 14 seats. The constituencies that go to the polls in the first phase include Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Jorhat. The BJP is contesting all of these seats.
The second phase on April 26 covers Karimganj, Silchar, Mangaldoi, Nagaon, and Kaliabor. The third phase on May 7 includes Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, and Guwahati.
A total of 36 candidates are frayed in all five constituencies of Assam. Kaziranga has the highest numbers of 11 candidates, followed by nine in Lakhimpur, eight in Sonitpur, five in Jorhat and three in Dibrugarh.
The prominent candidates contesting in the first phase are Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, sitting MPs Topon Gogoi, Pradan Baruah, Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and BJP MLA Ranjit Dutta.
In the outgoing Lok Sabha, BJP held nine seats, Congress three, AIUDF and an independent one each from the state.
The BJP is contesting 11 seats, while its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People's Party Liberal, are contesting two seats and one seat, respectively.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Rameswar Teli of the BJP won the Dibrugarh seat by a margin of 364,566 votes, defeating INC candidate Paban Singh Ghatowar. Teli had also won in the 2014 elections, receiving 55.48 per cent of the overall votes.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4. (ANI)