Guwahati: The stage is all set for the second and final phase of polls in 64 Assembly constituencies in 14 districts of Central and Lower Assam amidst tight security on Sunday.
Polling will be held amidst tight security as violence was feared in the four Bodo Territorial Administered Districts BTAD) where the Ranjan Daimary led anti-talk faction of NDFB had indulged in few pre-poll incidents, official sources said.
scheduled to leave by this evening, official sources said.
A variety of transport like buses, bullock carts and boats have been pressed into service to transport the polling personnel while in remote areas of some Lower Assam districts,
the polling party has to go on elephant back and even trek to reach their destination.
The districts going to polls include Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Barpeta, Kamrup(Metro), Kamrup(Rural), Nalbari, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri, Darrang,
Morigaon and Nagaon.
An electorate of 96,77,113 comprising 50,09,083 males and 46,68,030 female will decide the fate of 596 candidates, comprising 449 males and 47 female.
In the second phase of polls, out of the total 12,589 polling stations, 2033 have been identified as hypersensitive, 4175 as sensitive and 475 as vulnerable.
Prominent candidates in the fray are: Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman from Borkhetry, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari, Tourism and Forest
Minister Rockybul Hussain from Samaguri, Education Minister Gautam Bora from Batadraba and Social Welfare Minister Akon Bora from Dispur.
The BPF, the coalition partner of ruling Congress, also have three Ministers -- Agriculture Minister Pramila Rani Brahma from Kokrajhar (East), Transport Minister Chandan Brahma from Sidli and Public Health and Engineering Rihon Daimari from Udalguri (ST)-- among the eleven sitting party MLAs in the fray.
Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, AGP president Chandramohan Patowary, former speaker Pulakesh Barua, former AGP ministers Thaneswar Boro, Rekha Rani Das
Barua, Atul Bora and Girin Barua are also in the fray.
The Congress, though burdened with an anti-incumbency factor, was expecting to enter the Assembly for the third consecutive term and was engaged in a triangular contest with the BJP and AGP though the Bodoland Peoples` Front (BPF) and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) were expected to play a major role in the formation of the next government in the state.
The BPF has 11 sitting MLAs out of the 12 Assembly constituencies in four BTAD districts while 26 constituencies are minority dominated in the three districts of Dhubri,
Barpeta and Nagaon.
The BPF was contesting in 29 seats in this election while there were 154 minority candidates in the fray in the second phase.
Dispur in Kamrup (Metro) and Sarukhetri in Barpeta districts have the highest number of 13 candidates while Chapaguri (ST) constituency in Baksa district has the least
number of three candidates in fray.
PTI
