GUWAHATI: Bye-elections to five Legislative Assembly Constituencies (LACs) in Assam are being held on Wednesday with the fate of 34 candidates set to be sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) by the end of voting day.
Eight candidates are in the fray for Dholai Assembly constituency; three candidates for Sidli Assembly constituency; eight candidates for Bongaigaon Assembly constituency; four candidates for Behali Assembly constituency while 11 candidates are in the fray for Samaguri Assembly constituency.
As many as 909057 voters are set to cast their votes across 1078 polling stations in five districts from 7am to 5pm on Wednesday, official sources informed.
According to data provided by the office of the chief election officer (CEO) on Tuesday, Sidli (ST) LAC in Chirang district has the highest number of general electors at 217183, followed by Dholai (SC) LAC (196772 voters) in Cachar district; Bongaigaon LAC (182354 voters) in Bongaigaon district; Samaguri LAC (180448 voters) in Nagaon district and Behali LAC (132300 voters) in Biswanath district.
Besides, state-level media certification and monitoring committees (MCMC), joint CEO-level MCMCs and district-level MCMCs have been formed.
Anti-defacement activities have been carried out in accordance with the ECI guidelines. Nine flying squad teams (FST) along with nine static surveillance teams (SST) and video surveillance teams (VST) have been deployed in accordance with the requirements of each LAC. Webcasting arrangements have been made across 592 polling stations.
Notably, 11 model polling stations have been set up with three each in Bongaigaon and Cachar districts; two each in Chirang and Nagaon districts and one in Biswanath. Besides, 14 women polling stations have been set up in Biswanath (five), Bongaigaon (two), Cachar (three), Chirang (two) and Nagaon (two).
Security has been beefed up to ensure smooth conduct of the by-polls with as many as 15 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) deployed across the five seats. As it is, the run-up to the bypolls in Samaguri LAC, has been a series of clashes and violent incidents, primarily involving supporters and workers of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress.
Meanwhile, the process of distribution of election materials across the five seats was completed on Tuesday.
In Sidli constituency, where over 2 lakh voters are set to cast their ballots, a total of 1,224 polling personnel are being deployed for the election. The election management team includes 31 sector officers and 11 zonal officers, who will be responsible for overseeing operations in their respective areas.
Voters will cast their ballots at 273 polling stations spread across 182 polling buildings. Of these, 46 polling stations are situated within the administrative jurisdiction of the Kokrajhar district and the rest in Chirang district.
Authorities have ensured that all logistics are in place to facilitate smooth voting on the day of the election. Voters have been encouraged by the state election department to turn out in large numbers to participate in the democratic process.
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