Assam is all set for the first phase of the assembly polls that is scheduled to take place tomorrow. The district administrations are fully prepared to conduct a free and fair election in 47 constituencies.
The high-pitched campaign for this phase came to an end on Thursday evening and the fate of 264 candidates- 241 males and 23 females will be decided in this phase.
The stakes for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) are highest in this phase as the two allies had won 35 of these 47 seats in 2016. Tea plantation workers, weaned away by the BJP, are a deciding factor in more than 35 of these 47 seats. The outcome in this phase will also be crucial for Congress, which leads the 10-party Mahajot or grand alliance.
The election commission has taken all preventive measures to conduct free, fair and safe poll. The commission also urged the voters to come with a fearless mind to cast their votes.
In order to conduct peaceful polling, CCTV cameras have been installed for webcasting from 50 percent of the polling stations. The Office of the Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi and the offices of State Election Department and the Deputy Commissioner will be able to monitor these polling stations.
As per data in the State Election Commission, there are a total of Eighty One Lakh Nine Thousand Eight Hundred Fifteen registered voters in the first phase polls. Among them fourty lakh seventy seven thousand two hundred and ten are male voters, fourty lakh thirty two thousand four hundred and eighty one are female and 124 are transgenders.
Meanwhile, Jonai consituency has the highest number of 3.11 lakh voters while Thowra LAC has the lowest number of 1.15 lakh voters.
A total of 11,537 polling stations have been set up in 12 districts of the state for the first phase of polling.
Among the heavyweights in this phase are Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who seeks to retain the Brahmaputra River “island” constituency of Majuli, AGP president Atul Bora, State Congress chief Ripun Bora, his Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) counterpart Lurinjyoti Gogoi, and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi.
The results of the elections will be announced on May 2 and the first phase would be a litmus test for the parties on either side of the Citizenship Ammendment Act (CAA). The anti-CAA movement was initially the strongest across these 47 seats. So, this phase of polling might act as the deciding factor on which party takes over Dispur.
