In what was hyped as the “last battle of Saraighat against the Mughals” in Assam, more than 78 per cent of the electorate came out on Monday to exercise their franchise in the first phase of polling for 65 out of 126 Assembly segments in Assam.
The first phase of polling was significant as votes will decided the fate of 539 candidates, including high-profile ones like chief minister Tarun Gogoi and the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal.
The polling, which was by and large peaceful except for a few sporadic incidents of violence, was held in 12,190 polling stations on Monday.
The stakes were high for the two key national as well as regional players.
The chief ministerial candidate of BJP Sarbananda Sonowal, who air-dashed to Dibrugarh to cast his vote on Monday, said, “People want change for a free, clean and efficient government. They want an administration that protects their culture too.”
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who was confident of forming a Congress government in the state for the forth time, said only his party has brought change for the better through development in the state, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “failed” to fulfil his promises. Talking to reporters after casting his vote, Mr Gogoi said, “People want change for the better and not change for the worse”.
Voters, particularly women and first timers, were seen queuing at polling booths from 5 am to participate in the democratic process where the ruling Congress, the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance and the AIUDF are locked in a keen battle.
Assam had recorded 72 per cent polling in the 2011 Assembly polls which gave record 79 seats to Congress.
The Election Commission of India had made elaborate arrangement for security across the state by sealing the Indo-Bangla border along Barak valley’s Karimganj district. More than 40,000 security personnel were deployed in the 65 constituencies spread across Upper Assam, hill districts, northern banks and Barak Valley, which went to poll on Monday.
