Panchayat polls to be held in two phases on May 2 & 7

Guwahati, Apr 3: Panchayat elections will be held in the state in two phases on May 2 and May 7. Counting of votes is scheduled for May 11. The polls will be conducted using ballot papers. Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, State Election Commissioner Alok Kumar said the respective District Commissioners (DCs) will issue the notice of election for both the phases on Thursday. 

The last date for filing of nominations for both phases is April 11. Scrutiny of nomination papers for both phases will be carried out on April 12. The last date for withdrawal of candidature will be 3 pm on April 17.

Publication of the lists of contesting candidates of both phases will be done on April 17 after 3 pm. Polling will take place from 7.30 am to 4.30 pm for both phases. Repolling, if necessary, will be held on May 4 for the first phase and on May 9 for the second phase. Counting of votes of both phases will take place from 8 am on May 11. The districts going to polls in the first phase on May 2 are Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Majuli, Jorhat, Golaghat, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Cachar, Hailakandi, and Sribhumi.

In the second phase on May 7, polling will be held in the districts of Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Bajali, Nalbari, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Hojai, Nagaon, Morigaon, and Darrang.

The Sixth Schedule areas, comprising the hill districts and the BTR, fall outside the purview of the panchayati raj system.

Kumar said that the total number of electors for the panchayat elections is 1,80,36,682. Of the total, 90,71,264 are male electors, 89,65,010 are female, and 408 fall in the 'others' category.

He added that the number of electors is likely to increase by the time of the polls.

"The Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) has decided to continue the process of addition of new electors with the date of eligibility of electors as on January 1, 2025, in the panchayat electoral rolls as per rules," Kumar said. The process of addition will continue till the last date of filing of nominations.

Kumar said that the number of electors this time has increased by 13.27 per cent compared to that in 2018. The last panchayat elections in Assam took place in December 2018, when the total number of electors stood at 1,56,41,456.

"The number of polling stations this time will be 25,007," Kumar said. This is an increase of 6 per cent compared to 23,505 polling stations in 2018.

The number of seats of Gaon Panchayat (GP) members this time is 21,920. In addition, elections will also be held for the posts of 2,192 Anchalik Panchayat (AP) members and 397 Zila Parishad (ZP) members.

The Panchayat Elections 2025 will be held without the use of party symbols at the GP level. However, party symbols will be used in the AP and ZP levels.

At the GP level, the candidates will be allotted symbols from the list of open and free symbols available with the ASEC.

The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force with immediate effect from on Wednesday afternoon in all the areas falling under the panchayat system.

The election campaign expenditure limit for candidates has been fixed at Rs 10 lakh for ZP members, Rs 2.5 lakh for AP members, and Rs 25,000 for GP members.

The ASEC has appointed 88 observers for the elections.

Sensitive and very sensitive polling stations are being identified, and the list will be released later.

Around 1.2 lakh polling personnel will be used for the conduct of the panchayat elections.

Security of the polling stations, strong rooms, and counting centres, as well as videography of the polling process and strong rooms, will be done as per ECI rules.

Certain eligibility criteria have also been issued for candidates.

"The candidate should have attained the age of 21 years. The candidate should have a functional sanitary toilet in his/her residence. The candidate or his/her spouse should not have violated the legal age of marriage under the provision of the Child Marriage Act, 2006. The candidate should not have more than two living children from a single or multiple partner at the time of filing of nomination, provided this will not apply to more than two children who were born before 19.03.2018," Kumar said.

Minimum educational qualifications have also been fixed for candidates at the GP, AP, and ZP levels.

By

Staff Reporter