JOIN USAssam records over 82% polling in final phase of Assembly elections
The third and final phase of Assembly elections in Assam saw 82.28 per cent polling on Tuesday, when voting was conducted for 40 of the state's 126 seats.
A total of 337 candidates were in the fray in the Western Assam constituencies, where the prospect of the Congress-led grand alliance was perceived to be better than the ruling BJP and its regional allies AGP and UPPL.
Unlike the first two phases, long queues were seen since early morning on Tuesday and over 33 per cent of people had cast their votes by 11 am. The polling went up to over 64 per cent by 3 pm.
Assam minister and senior BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury and BJP's state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass were the prominent candidates who contested in the third phase.
Casting vote in a polling station in his Jalukbari constituency, Sarma said the BJP-led alliance would again form the government by winning at least 90 seats. In 2016, the BJP won 60 seats while its ally AGP bagged 14 and BPF 12 and came to power for the first time.
The BPF, which is seen as an influential party in the Bodoland region, however, joined the Congress-led grand alliance just before the elections. "The way people voted for us today made it sure about the grand alliance will be forming the new government," Mohilary said after casting his vote. The BPF contested all 12 seats in Bodoland including the eight which went for polls in the third phase.
In 2016 polls, in these 40 seats, both the BJP and the Congress had bagged 11 seats each and Ajmal's AIUDF and BPF won eight seats each. Congress leaders claimed that BJP this time would lose some of the seats it won in 2016 as the Muslims unitedly voted for grand alliance candidates, backed by both the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF.
Sarma had earlier said they don't require the votes of the Miyas (Bengali speaking Muslims), but some other BJP leaders claimed that Muslims also voted for BJP due to the development work of the Sarbananda Sonowal government.
The grand alliance is hoping better results from Muslim-dominated districts like Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta and Kamrup, where anti-BJP sentiment was stronger, particularly among those whose names were left out of the NRC. The BJP, however, banked on the Hindu Bengali votes for the CAA and the development works. It is also hoping that the new alliance with UPPL would bring seats in Bodoland.
The first phase of elections on March 27 witnessed 79.05 per cent polling while the second phase on April 1 registered 80.96 per cent voting.