Counting of votes in Assam Assembly polls begins at 331 centres

Counting of votes polled for 126 Assembly seats in Assam began at 331 counting centres at 8 am amid the spiralling Covid-19 cases.

Elections were held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6.

A total of 946 candidates contested the elections.

Counting of the 1.5 lakh votes cast through postal ballots would be done first following which the EVMs would be opened.

Follow live updates on the Assam Assembly Election results here

Assam being the only state among the four states where elections have been conducted where BJP is in power, all eyes will be on whether the alliance led by the saffron party retains power. BJP in 2016 had defeated the 15-year-old Congress government and formed its first government with the help of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF). BJP alone had bagged 60 seats while AGP and BPF won 14 and 12 seats respectively.

It will also be interesting to see whether the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which led to a violent agitation in Assam in 2019, will turn the votes against BJP and its allies AGP and UPPL this time.

Also read: Will the CAA end BJP's run in Assam?

The Congress-led grand alliance of seven opposition parties including Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic (AIUDF) had made the CAA one of their main poll planks and have been claiming that the controversial act would lead to BJP's debacle this time. Congress even refused to accept the exit poll results and claimed that the opposition alliance would wrest power from BJP.

BJP leaders are ecstatic over the exit poll results and claimed that their alliance would win at least 83 seats.

The anti-CAA agitation that turned violent in 2019 saw the death of five persons in police firing and even BJP leaders became a target of the agitators.

The two new parties formed out of the anti-CAA agitation, Assam Jatiya Parishad, led by Lurin Jyoti Gogoi, a former AASU leader and Raijor Dal, headed by Akhil Gogoi claims that they would play spoilsport to BJP's target to retain power. "Neither BJP nor Congress-led alliance will get a majority. So in that situation, our MLAs will be crucial in forming government," Lurinjyoti said.

Akhil is contesting elections from within judicial custody.

Eyes will also be on the AJP and Raijor Dal that primarily focussed on the anti-CAA votes, particularly in the eastern and North Assam districts (Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Majuli, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur).

Also read: Assam verdict to decide the fate of alliance politics

The focus will also be on the new political equations that emerged in Bodoland region in western Assam having 12 Assembly seats. The BPF, which was an ally of BJP in 2016 had won all 12 but this time they are with Congress. BJP replaced BPF with UPPL, a new party in Bodoland, which formed the Bodoland Council along with BJP in December last year. Many say BPF is still a stronger party than the UPPL in Bodoland.