Voting for the first phase of Assam Panchayat elections has started in Assam today and this voting is taking place in 14 districts of the state. Long queues of voters are being seen at the polling booths since morning and people are exercising their franchise with enthusiasm. According to the state election officials, voting is currently going on peacefully and in an orderly manner. Tight security arrangements have been made so that there is no disturbance.
Voting is taking place in these districts
The districts included in the first phase of polling include Sonitpur, Biswanath, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Shivsagar, Charaideo, Jorhat, Majuli, Golaghat, Cachar, Hailakandi and Sribhumi. Scenes from a polling station in Sribhumi show that people are standing in line in large numbers since morning and the election officials are handling the arrangements with full honesty. Separate arrangements have also been made for women and the elderly so that no one faces any problem.
#WATCH | Assam: Voting underway for the first phase of panchayat polls; visuals from a polling booth in Lakhimpur
The first phase of panchayat election is being held in 14 districts of the state – Sonitpur, Biswanath, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar,… pic.twitter.com/DiKaZXrI3S
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2025
Second phase and counting date also announced
The State Election Commission has informed that the second phase of Panchayat elections will be held in the remaining 13 districts on May 7. After both the phases, the counting of votes will take place on May 11. Polling parties have already been dispatched by the Election Commission in all the districts and the deployment of security forces has been increased. The Election Commission says that every necessary step is being taken for peaceful and fair voting.
This time the method of election of Gram Panchayat President has changed
A total of 21,920 Gram Panchayat (GP) members will be elected in the 2025 Panchayat elections. Apart from this, 2,192 Anchalik Panchayat (AP) members and 397 Zilla Parishad (ZP) members will also be elected by the public. The special thing is that this time the Gram Panchayat President will not be directly elected by the public. Like before, the President will not be elected by the public by voting, but ten elected members of every Gram Panchayat will elect a President by mutual voting. In the 2018 Panchayat elections, the public directly elected the president, but this time this system has been changed. The Election Commission believes that this will increase the tendency of collective decision making in the Gram Panchayats and will improve the functioning.
