Lok Sabha Election: Phase-II Polls Across 5 Seats In Assam Today

GUWAHATI: All preparations have been made for the second phase of Parliamentary polls in Assam where elections to seal the political fates of 50 candidates in 8,992 sets of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) linked to VVPAT (Voter verifiable paper audit trail) machines will be held from 7 am to 5 pm on April 18. The presiding officials along with polling and security personnel have already reached their respective places of posting across the five poll-bound HPC (House of People) constituencies namely Nowgong, Mangaldoi, Karimganj, Silchar, and Autonomous District-ST (Diphu). Massive security arrangements have been made in all the polling stations. Meanwhile, the Assam Police has also kept a few choppers ready for emergency situations. A total of 169 companies of CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) besides Assam Police personnel have been mobilized for the election process.

Altogether 69,10,592 electorates will get the chance to exercise their franchise across 8,992 polling stations during this phase. Of them, 35,54,460 are male voters while 33,55,952 are female, and 180 are third-gender voters.

Webcasting will be carried out in 621 polling stations so that Election Commission personnel are able to directly monitor the ongoing voting process on Thursday. Altogether 35,968 polling personnel will be required for smooth conduct of the second phase. During the elections, 544 micro observers, six general observers, five expenditure observers, and three police observers will be on duty. Altogether 137 flying squad teams, 127 static surveillance teams, 105 video surveillance teams will be also monitoring the second-phase polls in the State.

Besides, 137 polling stations will be manned by only women polling personnel. The breakup (in descending order) of such polling stations is as follows: 67 in Mangaldoi, 26 in Nowgong, 23 in Autonomous District (Diphu), 11 are in Karimganj, and 10 in Silchar. The total remote polling stations for the second phase are 1,033. The breakup (in descending order) of the remote polling stations is: Silchar (410); Karimganj (350); Autonomous District-Diphu (230); and Mangaldoi (43). Besides, there are 84 ‘Model’ polling stations having all basic amenities for the voters.

A total of 50 candidates including three women are contesting during this phase. In Karimganj, 14 candidates have contested, while there are 13 candidates in Silchar, 11 in Mangaldoi, seven in Nowgong, and five in Autonomous District (Diphu). Amidst the Rongali Bihu fervour, campaigning for the second phase came to an end at 5 pm on Tuesday in the State.

During the last general elections, the Congress had won in Silchar and Autonomous District (Diphu); BJP bagged Nowgong and Mangaldoi; while the AIUDF had won the Karimganj seat.

With respect to Thursday’s general elections, the common perception is that a triangular contest is likely in the Karimganj seat among Kripanath Mallah of the BJP, sitting MP Radhesyam Biswas of the AIUDF, and Swarup Das of the Congress. On the other hand, direct contests are expected to take place in the other four Parliamentary seats of Silchar, Autonomous District (Diphu), Mangaldoi, and Nowgong. In the Silchar seat there is a likelihood of a direct contest taking place between Rajdeep Roy of the BJP and the sitting MP from Congress, Sushmita Dev; in the Autonomous District (Diphu) seat between sitting MP Biren Sing Ingti of the Congress and Horen Sing Bey of the BJP; in Mangaldoi between Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneswar Kalita of the Congress and Dilip Saikia of the BJP; and in Nowgong between Pradyut Bordoloi of the Congress and Rupak Sarma of the BJP.

The penultimate phase of the general elctions in Assam saw the campaigning by several high-profile politicians for their respective candidates here. The list includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi besides Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi besides others.

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