Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that Dibrugarh will be developed as the second capital of Assam. On the occasion of Republic Day, Mr Sarma said the district headquarters of Dibrugarh will be developed as the second capital of the state within the next three years.

This was the first tie the Chief Minister unfurled the national flag in Dibrugarh.

Mr Sarma said the government will construct a permanent assembly building in the city, located on the southern bank of Brahmaputra in Upper Assam.

“Today is an important day in Dibrugarh’s journey to become the second capital of Assam. For the first time, state celebrations are taking place in this historical city. From 2027, one session of Assam assembly will take place in Dibrugarh every year,” Mr Sarma said.

“Dibrugarh will be the second capital of Assam in the next three years. We will construct a Raj Bhavan in Tezpur and develop it as the cultural capital of Assam. Silchar will have a secretariat and chief secretary’s office, thereby bridging the gap between Barak Valley and Guwahati,” he added.

We are developing infra to turn three towns into cities – Dibrugarh, Tezpur & Silchar.

Dibrugarh will have an Assembly Complex by 2027 and will be Assam’s 2nd Capital
Tezpur will emerge as the Cultural capital and will house a Raj Bhawan
Silchar will house a Mini… pic.twitter.com/e3rqvf3OFN

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 26, 2025

“From January 25 next year, the construction work for a permanent building of the Assam assembly will begin. In the next three years, Dibrugarh will become an important city in India,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr Sarma had last year opened the first Chief Minister’s secretariat outside the state capital in Dibrugarh town.

Guwahati (Assam):

Polling for the Lok Sabha across 14 seats in Assam will be held in three phases, the Election Commission (EC) announced on Saturday.

Of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the electorally significant Northeast state, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Dhubri will be in focus going into the Lok Sabha elections.

Union Minister and former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal is the BJP candidate from Dibrugarh and is pitted against Lurin Jyoti Gogoi of the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a coalition of 16 local Opposition outfits in the state.

In Jorhat, the ruling BJP has fielded sitting MP Topon Gogoi and standing against him will the deputy leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi.

In Dhubri, a Muslim-dominated constituency, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, who has been elected thrice from this seat, will go to battle against Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain. The BJP has set aside this seat to ruling ally in the state, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which has fielded Javed Islam.

The Guwahati seat will see a straight fight between Bijuli Kalita Medhi of the BJP and Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Barthakur Goswami.

In Nagaon, sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi will take on AIUDF candidate Aminul Islam and the BJP’s Suresh Bora.

In Kaziranga, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa will take on former Congress MLA Roselina Tirkey.

From Silchar, the BJP has fielded state Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya while sitting MLA Ranjit Dutta will contest Sonitpur on a BJP ticket.

The three-phased polling for the Lok Sabha in the state will be held on April 19, April 26 and May 7.

As part of a deal reached between the ruling allies in the state earlier, the BJP will contest 11 of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while the AGP will contest two seats (Barpeta and Dhubri) and the United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL) one (Kokrajhar).

More than 2.43 crore registered voters in the state, including 1.21 crore women, will exercise their franchise in the polling for the Lok Sabha.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)