Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who is contesting from Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat, is among eight senior citizens in the fray for constituencies in Assam going to polls in the first phase on April 19. The 62-year-old Rajya Sabha MP is among the elderly contestants, with his party colleague and MLA Ranjit Dutta, who is contesting from Sonitpur, being the oldest at 67, followed by Lakhimpur’s 65-year-old Congress candidate Uday Shankar Hazarika. The youngest candidate in the fray is 27-year-old Gobin Biswakarma, who is contesting as an Independent from Lakhimpur, while Republican Party of India’s Kaziranga candidate Saleh Ahmed Majumdar is the second-youngest at 29. A total of 15 candidates are in their forties, including 41-year-old Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who is contesting from Jorhat, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (49), who is contesting from Kaziranga, and Dibrugarh contestants Lurinjyoti Gogoi of Assam Jatiya Parishad (45) and AAP’s Manoj Dhanowar (47). Nine candidates are in their fifties, including 55-year-old Topon Gogoi, the sitting MP from Jorhat, Lakhimpur’s MP Pradan Baruah (58), and Congress candidate from Sonitpur, Prem Lal Ganju (53). Independent candidates Bikram Ramchiary and Deba Nath Pait, both contesting from Lakhimpur, are in their thirties, aged 32 and 33 respectively. Among the four women candidates in the fray, the eldest is 53-year-old Anima Deka Gupta of Voters Party International, followed by 43-year-old Independent contestant Dilwara Begum Chowdhury and 42-year-old Roselina Tirkey, all from Kaziranga constituency. In the first phase of polling in the state on April 19, a total of 35 candidates are in the fray for Kaziranga, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur constituencies.