Guwahati, April 14: After the scrutiny of nomination papers for the upcoming Assam panchayat elections, 174 nominations have been rejected, leaving 6,981 candidates officially in the fray.
The scrutiny process took place on Saturday, and candidates have until April 17 to withdraw their nominations. In the event of disruptions or irregularities, re-polling will be held on May 4 (Phase 1) and May 9 (Phase 2).
A total of 7,174 nominations were filed statewide, but following rejections and one withdrawal in Barpeta district, the final number of contesting candidates now stands at 6,981.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), Dhubri district recorded the highest number of candidates with 528, followed by Cachar with 481 and Kamrup with 364.
365 candidates are in the fray in Barpeta, 176 in Biswanath, 197 in Bongaigaon, 100 in Charaideo, 215 in Darrang, 207 in Dhemaji, 276 in Dibrugarh, 260 in Goalpara, 342 in Golaghat, 342 in Hailakandi, 246 in Hojai, 266 in Jorhat, 364 in Kamrup, 291 in Lakhimpur, 235 in Morigaon, 509 in Nagaon, 164 in Nalbari, 257 in Sivasagar, 171 in South Salmara, 214 in Sonirpur and 270 in Tinsukia.
At the other end, Kamrup Metro (57) and Majuli (63) reported the lowest number of candidates.
Gender-wise, 54.9% of the candidates are male, while 45.1% are female, reflecting a fairly balanced participation rate.
The Panchayat elections will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase (May 2), the voting will be conducted in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Majuli, Jorhat, Golaghat, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Cachar, Hailakandi, and Sribhumi.
In the second phase, (May 7), the election will be held in Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Bajali, Nalbari, Kamrup, Kamrup Metro, Hojai, Nagaon, Morigaon, and Darrang.
Assam has 1,80,36,682 registered voters this time, including 90,71,264 men and 89,65,010 women—a 13.27% increase over the 2018 elections.
The election will be conducted for 21,920 Gram Panchayat (GP) members, 2,190 GP presidents, 2,192 GP vice-presidents, 2,192 Anchalik Panchayat (AP) members, 181 AP presidents, 181 AP vice-presidents and 387 Zila Parishad (ZP) members.
Meanwhile, as the contest heats up, the BJP claims over 10% of NDA candidates have already secured uncontested wins, a reflection of what it calls “massive grassroots support.” With election committees activated across all 31 organizational districts and strategic planning underway, the stage is set for one of Assam’s most watched local elections in years.
