Elections will be held in 62 of the 126 Assembly constituencies of Assam on Monday in the first of the two phases in the State. This phase will determine the prospects of 485 candidates, which include 38 women.
A total of 85,09,010 voters will exercise their franchise in 11,264 polling stations.
The ruling Congress is seeking a mandate for the third consecutive term and it is the first time since the Emergency that an incumbent party is seeking a mandate thrice in succession in the State.
The first phase of polling is crucial for the ruling party as it won 37 of these 62 constituencies in 2006. It won a total of 53 seats that year. Of the 10 seats won by the Bharatiya Janata Party in that election, nine were from the constituencies going to the polls on Monday. The Asom Gana Parishad won seven of these 62, and won a total 24 seats in 2006. Both the AGP and the BJP are trying to make inroads into these 62 seats to prevent the Congress from scoring a hat-trick. The All-India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) won three seats and the Communist Party of India (CPI) won one out of these 62 seats.
Prominent among those whose fate will be decided in Monday's polling are: Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi from Titabar constituency; senior Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Brindaban Goswami from Tezpur; State BJP president Ranjit Dutta from Behali; Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bharat Narah from Dhakuakhana; Water Resource Minister Prithibi Majhi from Lahowal; Public Works Department Minister Ajanta Neog from Golaghat; Industries and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi; Fisheries Minister Nurzamal Sarkar; Excise Minister Gautom Roy; Urban Development Minister Dinesh Prasad Gowala; Speaker Tanka Bahadur Rai from Barchalla; and Deputy Speaker Pranati Phukan from Naharkatia.
This is the first time since 1991 that the State is going to the polls with almost all insurgent outfits engaged in peace talks with the government. All the past Assembly, parliamentary and other polls had been overshadowed by insurgent violence, boycott calls and threats. This time, the Paresh Barua faction of the ULFA called a bandh to oppose Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's election rallies on Saturday and carried out a bomb attack on Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati.
