Assam Panchayat: Voting for the second and final phase of panchayat elections is underway in Assam. This phase is being held in 13 districts of the state including areas of central and western Assam. Voting has started at 7:30 am and will continue till 4:30 pm. In this phase 12130 polling stations have been set up where people are exercising their franchise. Heavy voting was seen in the first phase and the BJP-led NDA also got an early lead due to which now all eyes are on this phase.
More than 29 thousand candidates in the fray: Many won unopposed
In the second phase the fate of a total of 29608 candidates is to be decided. This includes 181 Zilla Parishad seats 87 Zonal Council seats and 10530 village panchayat wards. In this phase also a large number of candidates have been elected unopposed. So far 1289 candidates have already won unopposed including 21 Zila Parishad members 151 Anchalik Parishad members and 1117 village panchayat ward members. This makes it clear that the opposition has distanced itself from contesting elections on many seats or the contest has been one-sided.
More than 91 lakh voters are voting: Re-polling will be held on May 9 if needed
A total of 91.31 lakh voters are eligible to vote in the second phase including 46.30 lakh men 44.99 lakh women and 251 citizens with other gender identities. If there is any disturbance or technical problem at any polling station the State Election Commission has decided to conduct re-polling on May 9. In the first phase also there were complaints of mismanagement at some centers due to which re-polling was conducted on May 4 at 44 polling stations in 5 districts.
NDA leads in first phase: More than 70% voting
The first phase of voting was held on May 2 in which people from 14 districts participated. It included districts like Tinsukia Dibrugarh Shivsagar Majuli Jorhat Golaghat Dhemaji Lakhimpur Sonitpur Biswanath Cachar Hailakandi and Sribhumi. This election is the first local body election after delimitation in the state. In the first phase 70.19% voting took place in which Majuli recorded the highest 80.02% and Sonitpur recorded the lowest 61%. In this phase BJP won 325 seats without contesting which included 37 Zilla Parishad and 288 Anchalik Parishad seats. Congress won 9 and AIUDF won 1 seat without contest. Counting of votes for both the phases will be held on May 11 which will decide the future of Assams Panchayat politics.
