Polling for 7 seats in N-E, 77% turnout in Manipur, Assam 71%
Polling for seven constituencies across the Northeast, including five in Assam and one each in Manipur and Tripura, was held on Friday amid tight security arrangements in Manipur, which witnessed incidents of violence and rigging in the first phase of polling.
The polling percentage across the region stood at Assam recording 71.11 per cent, followed by Manipur at 77.32 per cent and Tripura at 79.46 per cent.
People were seen queuing up outside polling stations more than an hour ahead of the official time for the start of polling at 7 am in Assam. Voting came to an end at 5 pm, but is expected to go on for 2-3 hours more as voters who reached polling stations before 5 pm were allowed to cast their ballot.
To ensure smooth and peaceful voting, the election commission deployed 143 companies of security forces in the Northeast seats.
It is significant that in Assam the role of Muslim voters, who are dominant in Nagaon and Karimganj, and are in sizable numbers in Silchar and Darrang-Udalguri,
◗ THE POLLING percentage across the region stood at Assam recording 71.11 per cent, followed by Manipur at 77.32 per cent and Tripura at 79.46 per cent
was crucial in this phase. In 2019, four of these five seats were won by the BJP, while the Congress had won from Nagaon.
In Nagaon, sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi is facing a tough contest from BJP’s Suresh Bora, who switched over to the BJP from the Congress. Aminul Islam of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), who is the sitting MLA from Dhing, has made this seat a triangular contest.
Karimganj — earlier a SC-reserved seat, but now in the general category — has 24 candidates. Darrang-Udalguri has 8 candidates, including sitting BJP MP Dilip Saikia. Silchar has 8 candidates and Diphu has 5 candidates.
In the wake of fluid law and order conditions in Manipur, the Election Commission had beefed up the security arrangement in the second phase of polling. However, there were incidents of clashes between the two rival groups in Ukhrul.