Over 56 pc voter turnout recorded in final phase of Assam Panchayat polls

Guwahati, May 7 (IANS) Nearly 56.71 per cent of the 91.31 lakh voters participated in the second and final phase of the panchayat elections in Assam on Wednesday, officials said.

Polling took place from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. across 13 districts. However, voters who were inside the booths by closing time were allowed to cast their votes beyond the time.

A senior official stated that while the final voter turnout figures are expected by late Wednesday night or the following day, though 56.71 per cent of eligible voters had cast their votes by 3:30 p.m. The second phase of voting occurred in districts of Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Bajali, Nalbari, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Hojai, Nagaon, Morigaon, and Darrang.

Bongaigaon recorded the highest turnout at 62.72 per cent, while Kamrup saw the lowest participation at 51.33 per cent.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma voted at the Amingaon Bengali Higher Secondary School in his Jalukbari constituency in Kamrup district, stating he voted “for a prosperous future for rural Assam.”

Any required repolling for the second phase will take place on May 9, while vote counting for both phases is scheduled for May 11.

The total electorate in this phase numbered 91,31,127, including 46,30,924 men, 44,99,952 women, and 251 individuals from other categories. This phase included elections for 181 Zila Parishad (ZP) constituencies, 87 Anchalik Parishad (AP) seats, and 10,530 Gaon Panchayat (GP) wards. A total of 1,289 candidates --comprising 21 ZP members, 151 AP members, and 1,117 GP ward members -- were elected unopposed. In total, 29,608 candidates contested in the second phase.

During the first phase, 70.19 per cent of voters cast their ballots in 14 districts, including Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Majuli, Jorhat, Golaghat, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Cachar, Hailakandi, and Sribhumi. These panchayat elections are the first to be held after the delimitation of constituencies in the state.

Notably, seven districts in Assam fall under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, where separate autonomous council elections are conducted.

--IANS

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