Assam polls: Civic infrastructure major issue in urban Kamrup

By Kumar Gaurav
Kamrup (Assam) India], April 4 : Despite being a stronghold of the ruling party, the urban constituencies of Kamrup Metropolitan district where civic infrastructure is still a matter of concern for voters, are all set to witness a tough tussle of power in the third phase of Assam assembly polls on Tuesday.
The four urban constituencies of Kamrup Metropolitan district including Jalukbari, Dispur, Gauhati East and Gauhati West will go to polls in the third phase on April 6.
In the 2016 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had bagged three seats and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), an ally of the NDA won one seat of these four.
This time 43 candidates including candidates from 13 political parties as well as independents are in the fray in these four assembly seats.
Among these, one of the most high-profile candidates is BJP's Himanta Biswa Sharma who is contesting from the Jalukbari constituency. Congress has fielded Ramen Chandra Borthakur against Sharma in this seat. In the 2016 assembly polls, Sharma has won by more than 85000 votes against the Congress candidate Niren Dekha.
Congress has fielded Ashima Bordoloi against BJP's sitting MLA Siddhartha Bhattacharya in the Gauhati East seat. In the 2016 Assembly elections, Bhattacharya had won from this seat defeating Congress' Bobbeeta Sharma by a margin of 96,637 votes.
In the Gauhati West constituency, the sitting MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita of AGP is the National Democratic Alliance candidate who will take on Congress' Mira Borthakur Goswami. In the last assembly polls, Kalita had won by a margin of 89,910 votes against Congress candidate Jury Sharma Bordoloi.
The BJP has fielded sitting MLA Atul Bora in the Dispur constituency against the Congress' candidate Manjit Mahanta.
Speaking to ANI, BJP MP Dilip Saikia said, "Urban voters always vote for BJP and this time Congress will lose deposit in some of the seats in the Kamrup metro area."
Women electorates play a crucial role as in all these constituencies as their number is more than the male counterparts. Out of a total of 11,52,487 voters in the four constituencies of Kamrup Metro, 5,83,006 are women.
It is worth mentioning, despite the higher proportion of women voters in these four constituencies of Kamrup Metro district, BJP and its allies have not fielded any women candidate while Congress has fielded two women candidates.
Talking about the poll issues, development and infrastructure are counted among the burning issues in the Kamrup Metro area.
"Our biggest problems are good roads, supply of drinking water, waste management and traffic congestion. Every time before the election leaders come and make promises to solve these issues. But nothing has happened so far," local residents Mrinal Jyoti Rajorshi and Pakshal Bora told ANI.
"Few flyovers are being made but tragic congestion is still a big problem. To reach four kilometres it takes around 40 minutes in peak hours," Piku Baruah, a driver by profession told ANI.
Though a stronghold of BJP, the air of anti-incumbency coupled with civic issues have pushed these four constituencies towards a tough fight in this election.
Polling for the third and final phase will be held on April 6 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2.