92,19,938 Voters to Script Fate of 43,515 Candidates In The First Phase of Panchayat Poll

GUWAHATI: As many as 92,19,938 voters are going to exercise their franchise on Wednesday to decide the fate of 43,515 aspirants in the first phase of panchayat poll. The poll will begin at 7 am and conclude at 3 pm.

According to the State Election Commission (SEC), all polling officials have reached their respective destinations. Security bandobast has been put in place by the Assam police. According to the SEC, some companies of CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) that are already in the State for NRC duty have also been engaged on poll duty.

Sources in the SEC have also said that of the 14,077 polling stations in 16 districts where the first phase of the rural poll is being held on Wednesday 5,162 are sensitive, 1,799 are very sensitive and 7,116 safe.

Talking to The Sentinel, State Election Commissioner HN Bora said: “Reports coming from the deputy commissioners suggest that everything is going on peacefully as of now. All polling officials have reached their respective destinations. The Assam Police has put in place a security bandobast for the polling. We hope the polling will be peaceful on Wednesday.”

Talking to the media, State DGP Kuladhar Saikia said: “We’ve deployed more personnel in the sensitive and very sensitive polling stations. The sectoral officers are reviewing security. We’ve not sought any force from the Centre as we’ve forces under our disposal. Some CAPF companies currently in the State on NRC duty have also been deployed on poll duty.”

The phase II of the panchayat poll is on December 9 and the counting is on December 12.

The entire exercise of the rural poll will cost the exchequer Rs 149.91 crore. A total of 1,56,255 officials will be involved in the poll process.

The 16 districts where first-phase of polling is being held are Biswanath, Charaideo, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Tinsukia, Sivasagar and Sonitpur. The second phase of polling will be held in 10 districts – Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Cachar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Hailakandi, Hojai, Karimganj, South Salmara Mankachar, and Nalbari.

Of the 43,515 candidates going to contest the first phase of panchayat poll – 796 are vying for 251 ZPC member, 3,799 for 1304 AP members, 4,155 for 1304 GP presidents and 34,765 for 13040 GP members.

This election is the first litmus test for the BJP after coming to power in Assam.