JOIN USCampaign for first phase of Assam elections ends
Campaigning for the first phase of polling in Assam on March 27 ended on Thursday.
Polling will be conducted in 47 of Assam’s 126 Assembly seats in 22 districts in eastern and North Assam on Saturday for which 264 candidates are in the fray. Of these, only 23 candidates are women.
A total of 81,09,815 voters will exercise their franchise in eastern Assam and North Assam constituencies. Assam has a total of 2,33,74,087 electorates.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (Majuli), president of Asom Pradesh Congress Committee Ripun Bora (Gohpur), AGP President Atul Bora (Bokakhat), Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly Hitendra Nath Goswami (Jorhat), Akhil Gogoi of Raijor Dal (Sivasagar) and Lurinjyoti Gogoi of Assam Jatiya Parishad (Duliajan) are some of the prominent candidates in the fray in the first phase.
Elections in these districts are seen as crucial for the ruling alliance led by the BJP as these areas had witnessed strong protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and have voters belonging to indigenous Assamese and other ethnic communities. Most of them had protested against the CAA as it seeks to give citizenship to post-1971 migrants.
The BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in 2016 had won 33 of the 47 seats in these regions but many are speculating that the number could decrease this time mainly due to the CAA. Tea garden voters are also going to be crucial both for the BJP and the Congress in the first phase.
The BJP, however, claimed that they would win at least 43 seats in the first phase and the CAA would have no bearing on voting.
The Congress says the indigenous Assamese voters would give a “befitting reply” to the BJP in the first phase for bringing in the CAA.
Eyes will also be on Raijor Dal and AJP, which were formed out of the anti-CAA agitation in 2019.
Polling for 39 seats will be held in the second phase on April 1 and for the rest of the 40 seats in the third and final phase on April 6.