Skip to main content

Summary of First Phase of Assam Elections




Summary of First Phase of Assam Elections
By Deepak Parvatiyar
April 4, 2016
- See more at: http://www.elections.in/blog/summary-first-phase-assam-elections/#sthash.fnfJqJ00.dpuf
 
 
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi as well as the CM face of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sarbananda Sonowal were among 539 candidates including 43 female candidates, whose fate were sealed in the ballot box in the first round of voting in Assam after the first phase of the two-phased state assembly elections on April 4.
While Gogoi is pitted against the BJP’s Lok Sabha member from Jorhat, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, in Titabor constituency, Sonowal is contesting against the Congress’s sitting legislator Rajib Lochan Pegu in Majuli.
  
An impressive 78.06 per cent voters  out of the total 95,11,732 voters turned out to exercise their franchise in the 12,190 polling booths of 65 constituencies from across 14 districts of tea-growing Upper Assam, that included 45 constituencies of Brahmaputra Valley, 15 constituencies of Barak Valley, and five seats of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts. The districts in the fray in the first phase were Sonitpur (8 seats), Dibrugarh (7 seats), Cachar (7 seats), Udalguri(3 seats), Sivasagar (6 seats), Jorhat (6 seats), Karmganj (5 seats), Tinsukia (5 seats), Lakhimpur (4 seats), Golaghat (4 seats), Karbi Anglong (4 seats), Hailakandi (3 seats), Dhemaji (2 seats) and Dima Hasao (1 seat).

At least 25 of the 30 candidates in the first phase who faced criminal cases had serious charges related to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women. Six of these candidates facing serious criminal charges belonged to the Congress while the BJP had 3 such candidates in the first phase.

The ruling Congress Party had fielded its candidates in all 65 seats while the BJP in 54 of the total 88 seats that the party is contesting in the state. The BJP’s alliance partners, the Asom Gana Parishad had fielded 11 candidates, and the Bodoland People’s Front, 3 candidates in the first phase. In Algapur, Mahmara, Naoboicha constituencies, both the BJP as well as the AGP have fielded candidates against each other though in what they termed as “friendly contests”. The perfume baron Moulana Badruddin Ajmal –led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), had fielded candidates in 27 seats in the first phase.

The first round of polling is crucial for the BJP as the votes here will determine its fate in the state.  It hopes to muster the support of the Bengali Hindu votes of Barak valley bordering Bangladesh. In the 2014 general elections, the party had won four of its seven parliamentary seats (Assam has 14 parliamentary seats) from the constituencies that went to polls in the first phase.   In the second phase elections for 61 seats in Muslim dominated Lower and central Assam on April 11, it is contesting 35 seats, leaving 19 and 10 seats respectively to its allies AGP and BPF.

Reports suggest that at least 93 Electronic Voting Machines malfunctioned and had to be replaced during the first phase of Assembly polls in the state.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

War between Arvind Kejriwal and Najeeb Jung

War between Arvind Kejriwal and Najeeb Jung By  Deepak Parvatiyar May 21, 2015 Rate this post The ongoing public spat between Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the control of Delhi administration has exposed the grey areas in governance that require immediate redressal to ensure against any such crisis in the city state of Delhi. The immediate provocation was the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary of Delhi by the Lieutenant Governor in spite of Kejriwal’s strong opposition on 15th May this year. This made the Chief Minister cry foul alleging that the LG was “functioning as if there is President’s Rule in the national capital and there is no elected government here” by bypassing the “democratically elected government…(and) issuing instructions to officers”. Much drama unfolded ever since. Both Kejriwal and Jung indulged into public sparring with Kejriwal even dispatching an angry letter to Jun...
Post a Comment
Read more

Expectations from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s India Visit

Expectations from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s India Visit By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 5, 2014 Much is expected of the ensuing India visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping both on strategic and economic fronts. Indian Commerce Minister Nirmala Seetharaman visited Beijing at the same time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Japan. India expects Jinping’s visit to pave the way for major Chinese investments in the country, while also hoping China to facilitate Indian IT services exports by removing the barriers. Border dispute between the two countries too are expected to figure in the summit meet. China High on India’s Agenda There is no doubt that China is crucial to the Modi government’s foreign policy. Vice President Hamid Ansari had visited Beijing in June this year (Seetharaman had accompanied Ansari to China then too). At that time both countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on facilitating Chinese industrial parks in India...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Legacy of a Callous Force

BOMBAY MUSINGS Corruption, Inefficiency... The Legacy of a Callous Force By Deepak Parvatiyar (in Bombay) (This column was published in Free Press Journal, Bombay on 8th March, 1993) If one ignores its dubious role during the recent riots, the Bombay police did enjoy a reputation which could make the famous Scotland Yard envy it. But the recent riots and the emergence of a corrupt and partisan police force made one wonder about such an hyped-up image of the city police. And as the chroniclers recorded the latest events for posterity as a blotch on the face of the city police, one was tempted to flip the pages of history to find out whether the city police ever bore a semblance to the other three Ps -- profiteering, puissance and pomposity -- which have unceremoniously remained a hallmark of Indian police. The modern police force in the city traces its origin to the Bhandari Militia, which had been established around 1672 mainly due to the efforts of the the...
Post a Comment
Read more