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Assam Assembly elections: Polling for 47 seats tomorrow, over 81 lakh voters to decide fate of 264 candidates
Polling will begin at 7 am on Saturday in 47 constituencies across 12 districts in the first phase of Assam Assembly elections where the ruling BJP and Congress-AIUDF alliance are locked in a direct electoral contest.
New Delhi: Polling will begin at 7 am on Saturday in 47 constituencies across 12 districts in the first phase of Assam Assembly elections where the ruling BJP and Congress-AIUDF alliance are locked in a direct electoral contest.
According to the Election Commission, 81,09,815 voters including 40,77,210 males and 40,32,481 females are eligible to cast their votes at 1,1537 polling stations in the first phase. The polling will begin at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
In the three-phased polls, the BJP, which is seeking to retain the power in Assam, is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance, Central public welfare schemes, and on the image of Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal.
While Congress is heading into the battle against the ruling party bringing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to the fore.
A total of 264 candidates are in the fray from 47 seats-- 42 seats from 11 districts of Upper Assam and northern Assam region and five seats from central Assam's Nagaon district going to polls in the first phase.
In 2016, the BJP and its ally AGP had swept the elections in the region by winning 35 of these seats. The BJP alone had bagged 27 seats. Congress could manage to win only 9 seats despite securing nearly the same vote percentage.
Lurinjyoti Gogoi, president of newly-floated regional political party Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) will contest from two seats-- Duliajan and Naharkatia which will go to polls in the first phase.
The fate of jailed anti-CAA activist and Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi from Sibsagar will be decided in the first phase. Gogoi, a peasant leader, is in jail since December 2019 in connection with a National Investigation Agency (NIA) case for his role in the anti-CAA protests in Assam. He was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).(ANI)