New Delhi:
In recently held panchayat elections in Assam, as many as six winners were decided with toss of a coin. According to reports, the incident took place in Barak Valley bordering Bangladesh. The State Election Commission sources said that Swadhin, Hailakandhi and Lalmukh winners were decided after tossing the coin. The officials opted for such an unusual solution because there was a tie after counting of the votes.
The ruling BJP in Assam emerged as the single largest party in the three-tier panchayat elections by bagging 42 per cent of the total seats, while the Congress came second securing 34 per cent, the Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) said.
The BJP bagged 11,325 out of a total 26,784 posts, counting of which began on December 12 across Assam, the ASEC said in a statement after conclusion of the counting process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the BJP and its allies have become the preferred choice of people in the northeast states as he thanked voters in Assam for their support to the saffron party in the recent panchayat polls.
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"Over the last few years, the BJP and the NDA family have become the preferred choice of the northeast. We consider it our privilege that we have the honour of fulfilling the aspirations of the northeast and taking the region to new heights of progress," he said on online networking site Twitter.
He said the party has immense faith in the state government and its focus on good governance.
"I appreciate the entire team of Assam BJP for their excellent work across the state, which has resulted in the party's wonderful performance. I am sure the 'karyakartas' will continue raising issues of public welfare and work towards Assam's growth," Modi said.
The Congress has won a total of 8,970 posts, followed by Independents winning 3,048 seats, which is 11 per cent of the total seats.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a constituent of the ruling alliance that contested separately, came fourth winning 1,963 posts while opposition AIUDF bagged 1,319 posts. The two parties secured seven and five per cent of the total seats respectively, the ASEC statement said.
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Out of the total posts, 21,970 are for gaon panchayat members (GPM), 2,197 each for gaon panchayat presidents (GPP) and anchalik panchayat members (APM), and 420 are zilla parishad members (ZPM).
No nominations were received in 52 GPM seats and by-elections will take place later in coming days to fill-up those posts.
The elections were held on December 5 and 9 recording an overall voting of over 82 per cent. While there were 78,571 contestants in total, 734 were elected uncontested.
