Assam Polls: BJP hat-trick or Congress comeback?

Guwahati: The battle for Assam will enter its final stage on Monday, determining whether the BJP-led NDA gets a third term or Congress wrests power. EVMs, holding the electoral fates of 722 hopefuls from 126 assembly constituencies, will be opened at 40 counting centres across all 35 districts amid tight security arrangements.

Among the contestants, 59 are women. Counting in Nagaon district will be held in three separate centres, while in Kokrajhar, Tinsukia and Jorhat it will be held at two centres each.

Twenty-five companies of central armed police forces have been deployed to guard counting centres and strongrooms, housing the electronic voting machines. The authorities will deploy 800 more unarmed police personnel to move EVMs from strongrooms to the counting centres.


Chief electoral officer Anurag Goel had said that two additional CAPF companies will be kept on static duty. On the other hand, 93 companies of state armed police have already been deployed in the districts, he said. The support of 85 Assault Groups has also been sought on the counting day to deal with any untoward incident.

Polling in the state was held on April 9, with 85.96% of the over 2.50 crore electorate exercising their franchise. Among the 722 candidates, Congress has the highest 99, followed by BJP with 90, AIUDF with 30, NDA allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) with 26 and Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF) with 11 nominees. In the Opposition alliance, Raijor Dal contested in 13 seats, Assam Jatiya Parishad in 10, CPI(M) in three, and All Party Hill Leaders Conference in two. The ruling BJP's strength in the outgoing assembly is 64. Main Opposition Congress has 26 members.