Assam polls: Focus on Barak Valley, hills as phase 2 campaign ends

There are 39 seats in this phase across southern, central, parts of northern and western Assam

Campaigning for the second phase of Assembly elections comprising 39 of Assam’s 126 constituencies ended at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Elections in these seats across 13 districts in southern, central, and parts of northern and western Assam will be held on April 1. The BJP and its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) had won 25 of these 39 seats in 2016. The focus in this phase is on the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley where support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is high among the Hindus unlike in the Assamese-dominated Brahmaputra Valley. The Barak Valley has 15 seats across three districts, and the BJP had won eight of these in 2016.