Civic polls in State by Feb 10

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, January 2: Elections to the State’s town committees and municipal bodies will be held within February 10 this year. This was announced by Harendra th Bora, Commissioner, Assam State Election Commission on Friday.  

Talking to reporters here, Bora said that electoral rolls relating to civic polls had been published across the State on Friday.

In Assam, there are 74 town committees and municipal boards, the terms of which were expired in September last year.

Bora said that fund provision for the upcoming civic polls was kept in the State Budget.

Sources said that the ensuing civic polls would be a challenge for the ruling Congress in Assam as the BJP had successfully developed a strong support base in urban areas of the State after the last Lok Sabha elections. The upcoming civic elections would be a litmus test for the ruling party in the State, sources added.

In the last Lok Sabha polls, the Congress only got 3 seats and the BJP won 7 seats in the State.

On Friday, newly elected Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Anjan Dutta said that the party was ready for civic polls.

To strengthen the party’s existing support base and devise strategy for civic polls, the APCC would be organizing a meeting at Rajiv Bhavan, State Congress headquarters, here on January 11, sources said.