Assam Elections to be held in a single phase on April 9; 2.50 crores voters will exercise voting rights

GUWAHATI: Assam will go for a single-phase election on April 9. Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the dates for the assembly elections of five states Assam, Keralam, Puduchery, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, in a press conference held in New Delhi, announced that the polls for the assembly will be held on April 9, and after decades, it will be a single-phase election before the Bihu festival in Assam. The counting will be on 4th May. The current assembly term will be ending on May 20. According to ECI data, Assam has a total of 2.50 crore voters. Interestingly, Assam has got equal numbers of male and female voters, which is1.25 cr female and male voters.

There are approximately 31000 polling booths in the state. It should be mentioned that after restoring lasting peace in the state in the last 10 years under the BJP-led government, the Election Commission has, after many years, decided to hold the assembly election in a single phase.

For Assam, the election notification will be issued on 16th March (Monday), and the last date for filing nominations will be on March 23. The date of scrutiny of nomination will be 24th March and the date for withdrawal of candidature will be on March 26.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP and the NDA have accelerated their election campaign in the state. After PM Narendra Modi’s campaigns on 13/14 March, Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a huge youth rally in Guwahati just before the announcement of the date of the poll in the state. BJP and its alliance partners AGP, BPF and UPPL will announce the final seat-sharing list on March 17. The BJP parliamentary board is likely to meet on the 17th in Delhi, where the ruling party will announce the candidates for the assembly election in Assam and other states. The opposition Congress has already announced the list of candidates for almost 90 seats, leaving some for its alliance partners. On the other hand, the Muslim voter base party AIUDF and the left party Raijor Dol have also announced their candidate lists for many seats. Political analysts have opined that the ruling BJP is in a comfortable position this time, with its development work and a scattered opposition. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier said that Congress and the opposition don’t have any issues going to the election, and it is a comfortable win for the BJP and NDA.