First phase poll-notification issued in Assam, voting to take place on March 27

Guwahati: The notification for the first phase of Assam legislative assembly elections, scheduled for 27 March 2021 for 47 seats out of 126 constituencies, has been issued, where 80 lakh voters would get the opportunity to exercise their franchises. The first phase polling will be limited to 12 districts in eastern Assam.

The last date for submission of nomination papers by candidates is on 9 March and scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on 10 March. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is fixed on 12 March. Counting of votes will be taken up on 2 May and results will be certified by 4 May, said the State election department.

Meanwhile, hectic preparations by various political parties are going on for selecting their candidates for the three-phase polls (including 1 and 6 April). The ruling alliance comprising Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), etc have gone for several sittings to finalise their common candidates. Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) has left the alliance to join the Congress led Mohajoat.

Newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) is posing a challenge to both the BJP and Congress-led alliances, but its own ally Raijor Dal remain indecisive for the polls, as their supreme leader Akhil Gogoi, who is behind bars for more than a year under sedition charges, is yet to make it clear about his candidature.

The Congress has already brought the party’s general secretary Priyanka Gandhi to Assam for launching its poll-campaign with five guarantees to the electorate. The first guarantee, Ms Priyanka narrated in the Tezpur rally on 2 March, revolves around her party’s stand to nullify the citizenship amendment act (CAA), which witnessed public demonstrations in the Brahmaputra valley.

She also committed to offering freebies to the people once they elect a congress government in the state. Priyanka tried to convince the electorates that her party was not making any unrealistic promise before the polls.