Phase I polls: 35 candidates, 86.47 lakh voters & 10,001 polling stations CEO fully prepared to conduct free-and-fair election

Guwahati: The fate of 35 candidates, including Union cabinet minister Sarbananda Sonowal, will be sealed on Friday in the first phase of the election in five LS constituencies in Assam. On the other hand, the chief electoral officer (CEO), Assam, is fully prepared to conduct free, fair, and peaceful elections in the state.

Tomorrow, the five parliamentary constituencies of Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, and Jorhat are headed for the polls. All arrangements are in place to ensure smooth conduct of the elections, with the necessary security personnel and others like live webcasting and strict vigilance in each and every polling station in these constituencies. Special security arrangements have been made in the inter-state border areas.

All five parliamentary constituencies are mostly likely to see one-to-one contests. There is no scope for triangular or multi-cornered contests this time.

The polling will start at 7 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Helpline apps have been made available for the voters' convenience, like the Helpline App, KYC App, C-Vigil App, etc.

The total polling centres in these five constituencies are 10,001, of which live webcasting will be done in 5,509 centres. Total model polling centres number 92 and 11 polling centres will be fully managed by persons with disabilities (PwDs). A total of 40,004 presiding officers have been engaged to conduct the first phase of polling. Also, 10,001 VVPAT machines, 10,001 Ballot units, and 10,001 Control units will be used in the first phase of polling on Friday.

The total number of voters in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election in the state is around 86.47 lakh, out of which male voters number about 42.82 lakh and females constitute nearly 43.64 lakh voters.

The total number of candidates in the Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency is three, but the main contest will be between Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and I.N.D.I. Alliance candidate Lurinjyoti Gogoi. In Kaziranga, there are 11 candidates, but the fight will be between Congress candidate Gaurav Gogoi and BJP candidate Topon Kumar Gogoi. Sonitpur has eight candidates vying for the seat, but the primary contest will take place between the BJP's Ranjit Dutta and the Congress' Premlal Ganju. Lakhimpur has nine candidates contesting the polls, but the main contest will be between sitting MP Pradan Baruah and Congress candidate Uday Shankar Hazarika.

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