An FIR was filed against Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi (Congress) under Section 126 of the Representation of People’s Act at the direction of the Election Commission for violating the model code of conduct by holding a press conference in Guwahati during the second phase of polling in the state. The allegations made by Gogoi during the press conference were found unfounded by the Commission which viewed the press conference as an exercise to influence the polling.
Voter Turnout in Assam
State polls in Assam concluded with 82.02% of 1,04,35,277 voters turning out at the 12,699 polling stations by 5 pm, to seal the fate of 525 candidates in 61 assembly constituencies of the state. The polling percentage was much higher than the 76.05% recorded in these constituencies in 2011 state elections and the 80.21% polling in these constituencies during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Only eight constituencies registered less than 80% turnout during the concluding phase of voting in the state. The highest 89% voters’ turnout was registered in Mankachar and Jaleswar assembly constituencies of the state. The constituencies are spread across lower and central Assam.
Voter Turnout in West Bengal
In neighbouring West Bengal, 79.51% voting was registered till 5 pm during the second part of the first phase of voting in the 31 seats that included nine seats of Burdwan, 13 seats of West Midnapore and 9 seats of Bankura districts of the state. Poll percentage was to be revised by the Election Commission after polling officially concluded at 6 pm in these constituencies. In all, 163 candidates including 21 women candidates were in the fray in the second phase in the state.
Poll-related Violence in Assam and West Bengal
Stray incidents of violence marred polling in both states though the election commission claimed that the polling was largely peaceful. While two bags of crude bombs were found and deactivated at Jamuria in West Bengal, in Assam a magisterial enquiry was ordered following the death of an 80-year-old voter who was killed in a clash between the central force and voters in Sorbhog constituency in Barpeta district – the hotbed of illegal migrants’ issue. At least two CRPF personnel, too, were injured in the clash.
In West Bengal, at least three persons, including a Communist Party of India (Marxist) polling agent and a Congress supporter, were reportedly injured in poll-related violence in Jamuria. The police also arrested a Trinamool Congress worker, Sheikh Shamser, for engaging in violence. The Election Commission, though, stated that there was no violence “in polling stations” in the state. It, however, acknowledged “political clashes” and said that there were “no major incidents”.
Candidates with Criminal Background
It may be mentioned that at least 42 candidates with criminal background were fielded by political parties in the state in the second leg in Assam. Of them 32 face serious offences like murder, kidnapping and crime against women. In West Bengal, 32 of the 37 candidates with criminal background in the second leg of elections faced serious offences.
Assam Election Candidates Whose Fate was Sealed
In the concluding phase of voting in Assam, the Congress had fielded 57 candidates, while the BJP fielded 35 and its allies – the Asom Gana Parishad, 19 and Bodoland People’s Front, 10. The All India Democratic United Front fielded 47 candidates and the fate of its leader, Moulana Badruddin Ajmal, was sealed in the ballot box at Salmara South constituency, in the second phase. With assets worth Rs 54 crore, Ajmal is the richest among the 125 crorepati candidates in Assam. ( West Bengal had 20 crorepati candidates in the second leg). The Congress had fielded the most, 30 crorepati candidates, in this leg followed by the BJP’s 19 in Assam.
Fate of AGP leader and former CM, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (Barhampur), BJP national spokesman Sidhartha Bhattacharya (Gauhati East) as well as former Congress minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who revolted against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and later joined BJP in 2015 (Jalukbari).
What had happened in 2011 assembly polls and 2014 general elections?
In the last assembly elections, the Congress had won 24 of these 61 seats in the poll-bound districts of Assam while the AIUDF had won 17 seats from here. The BJP had won 3 seats while its allies, the AGP and the BPF had respectively won 5 and 9 seats from here. This time, the issue of infiltration dominated the campaign in the region which has a predominant minority population.
In West Bengal, the Left had performed badly in the constituencies that went to poll in the second leg in 2011 assembly elections as well as in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in 2014. While Bankura, the Trinamool Congress had made a clean sweep while in Burdwan, Left could win only two of the seven seats in 2011.
However, in 2011, the Left had won six out of the 13 seats that went to poll in the second leg in West Midnapore but it performed badly in the district during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as the TMC marginalized the Left to just one assembly segment in the district then. As for the BJP, it had led in six of the nine assembly segments in Burdwan in the 2014 general elections while the TMC led in the rest.
During the phase 1B, the TMC and the BJP had fielded candidates from all the 31 seats, while the Congress had fielded candidates from 8, the CIP-M, 19, CPI, revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc, 1 each. In the last assembly elections, the TMC had won 20, Congress (then a TMC ally), 2, and the Left Front, 9 in the region.
Bengal Election Candidates Whose Fate was Sealed
The second leg of polling in West Bengal determines the fate of former state Congress chief Manas Bhuniya ( Sabang). Incidentally, Bhuniya is also an accused in the murder. The CPI-M’s CM aspirant Surya Kanta Mishra too was in the fray in the second leg from Narayangarh alongwith the BJP state president Dilip Ghosh (Karagpur Sadar).
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