Counting of votes under way in 5 Assam Assembly seats

The counting of votes polled on October 30 for bye-elections in five Assembly constituencies in Assam began at 8 am on Tuesday.

The five constituencies, Thowra, Mariani, Bhawanipur, Gossaigaon and Tamulpur, saw 73.38 per cent polling on Saturday.

Counting in two constituencies in Meghalaya (Mawryngkneng and Mawphlang in East Khasi Hills district and Rajabala in Eest Garo Hills district) and in Tuirial constituency in Mizoram also began on Tuesday morning.

In Assam, bypolls in Thowra, Mariani and Bhawanipur was necessitated after the Congress and AIUDF MLAs Sushanta Borgohain, Rupjyoti Kurmi (both Congress) and Phani Talukdar (AIUDF) switched over to the BJP. Gossaigaon and Tamulpur seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs died recently.

A total of 31 candidates are in the fray for bye-elections in Thowra, Mariani, Bhawanipur, Gossaigaon and Tamulpur constituencies.

Congress fielded candidates in all five seats while the BJP contested in Thowra, Mariani and Bhawanipur and backed candidates of its ally United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) in Gossaigaon and Tamulpur. BJP fielded Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain in Mariani and Thowra, who switched over from Congress and Phani Talukdar who quit AIUDF in Bhawanipur.

The Election Commission has banned any victory procession after the counting. Not more than two persons will be allowed to accompany the winning candidate or his/her authorised representative to receive the certificate of election from the Returning Officer concerned, the commission said.

Observers said the results of the bye-elections in Assam would give an idea about voters' mood towards BJP and its allies, which formed its government for the second consecutive term in May this year.

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