Counting of votes for panchayat elections has started in Assam from Sunday morning and it is being held amid tight security across the state. This time panchayat elections were held for the first time in the state after delimitation. These elections were held in two phases on May 2 and May 7 in 27 districts. Counting of votes for both the phases started simultaneously from 8 am on Sunday and according to officials, this process can go on till Monday night.
BJP ahead, Congress behind
Alok Kumar, Commissioner of Assam State Election Commission (ASEC), said that this time voting has been held on a total of 2,192 Anchalik Panchayat (AP) member seats, out of which 1,124 seats were reserved for women. Apart from this, voting was also held on 397 Zilla Parishad (ZP) member seats, out of which 199 seats were reserved for women. Elections were held on 21,920 seats at the Gram Panchayat (GP) level, out of which 10,883 seats were given to women. According to the latest information, BJP is leading in 355 Anchalik Panchayat seats while its ally Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) is leading in 42 seats. Congress is leading in only 21 seats.
Congress did not get lead in Zila Parishad seats
Talking about Zila Parishad, BJP is leading in 35 seats while AGP has got lead in two seats. Congress is not leading in any Zila Parishad seat so far. No candidate was allowed to contest on party ticket for Gram Panchayat seats. Candidates have contested independently on all these seats. This makes it clear that BJP’s influence in the state still remains at the rural level while Congress seems to be lagging behind.
Results and voting percentage so far
Counting of votes is going on at 39 centers across the state and agents of the candidates have reached the centers since morning. According to the information received, 2,912 candidates have been elected unopposed, including 34 Zila Parishad members, 311 Anchalik Panchayat members and 2,567 Gram Panchayat ward members. An Election Commission official said that there were thousands of seats in the elections and efforts are being made to complete the counting work as soon as possible. This time, out of a total of 1.80 crore voters, 74.71 percent exercised their franchise, which shows that awareness about democracy is increasing among voters in rural areas.
