At least 67 candidates, including a legislator who recently switched from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) to the National People’s Party (NPP) prior to filing nominations, withdrew from the fray on Thursday for the upcoming Assam assembly elections, bringing the total number of contestants down to 722, officials said.. 67 candidates withdraw from Assam assembly polls (Representative photo). Aminul Islam, who won from the Mankachar seat in 2021 on an AIUDF ticket, had switched to the NPP after being denied a ticket. But on Thursday, the 50-year-old withdrew his nomination papers, according to the Election Commission (EC).. A total of 815 candidates had filed 1,389 nomination papers across 126 constituencies in the state. Following scrutiny, 789 candidates were found eligible on Wednesday to contest.. “Out of 789 validly nominated candidates, a total of 67 candidates have withdrawn their candidature on Thursday. Consequently, 722 candidates remain in the fray,” the Assam state election office stated in a release.. On Wednesday, the EC had rejected the nomination papers of a Congress candidate from the Barpeta assembly constituency in Assam for discrepancies.. According to the Barpeta district commissioner’s office, the two sets of nomination papers submitted by the Congress candidate, Mahananda Sarkar, for the scheduled caste (SC) reserved seat were rejected due to discrepancies in Form A, which is submitted along with other documents.. Voting for the single-phase election to all 126 assembly seats in Assam will take place on April 9, and counting will be held on May 4.
