Guwahati:
At least 82 per cent of the 1,04,35,271 electorate exercised their franchise amidst tight security in the second and final phase of Assembly elections in Assam today. Voters, particularly women and first time voters, stood in queues at the polling booths two hours ahead of the commencement of polling at 7 AM for the remaining 61 seats.
Ruling Congress, the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance and the AIUDF are locked in a keen battle along with other political party contestants and Independents. There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in some polling centres which disrupted voting for some time but the election process continued uninterrupted once they were replaced, election office said.
Former two-time Chief Minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta along with his wife former MP Dr Jayashree Mahanta voted in Barhampur and AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal, who claims he will be the “king-maker” in the formation of the next government, also cast his vote.
No untoward incident has been reported so far from the constituencies where intense security arrangements have been put in place, particularly in Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) where NDFB(S) militants are active and in Goalpara Election district which recently witnessed a bomb blast incident that killed three persons.
Today’s polling will decide the political fate of 525 contestants in 61 of the 126 Assam Assembly constituencies. The first phase of polling in the state on April 4 had witnessed an 82.20 per cent voter turnout in 65 Assembly constituencies.
