HT Correspondents
JORHAT/ TEZPUR/ NAGAON, March 16: The district administration of Jorhat has begun extensive preparations for the forthcoming Assam Legislative Assembly Election 2026 to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of polling in the four constituencies of Jorhat, Mariani, Teok and Titabor.
Addressing mediapersons at the conference hall of the District Commissioner’s office, Deputy Commissioner Jay Shivani said that 30 polling stations in the district have been identified as critical and adequate security personnel will be deployed to ensure peaceful polling.
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The DC also informed that Returning Officers for the four constituencies will function from designated rooms within the District Commissioner’s office complex.
The Returning Officer for the Jorhat constituency will operate from Room No 1 of the DC’s conference hall, while the Mariani RO will function from Room No 12 of the main building.
The Titabor RO will operate from Room No 1 of the Old Treasury office located within the DC office campus, and the Teok RO will sit in Room No 27 of the DC office main building.
A 24-hour control room has been set up to receive complaints related to violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) or election expenditure.
In this regard, the toll-free number 18003453996 and the national election helpline 1950 have been activated.
Voters can also lodge complaints through the cVIGIL mobile application by uploading geo-tagged photographs, upon which action is expected to be taken within 100 minutes.
Shivani said the Election Commission of India has introduced several new initiatives for the upcoming polls.
These include the provision of mobile phone deposit facilities at polling stations for voters who carry phones for emergency purposes.
Each pouch will have space for up to ten mobile phones, although voters have been advised not to carry phones to polling booths unless necessary.
Another new provision allows political parties to set up help desks or booths at a distance of 100 metres from polling stations, instead of the earlier limit of 200 metres.
The presiding officer at each polling station will also provide voting data in real time through a mobile application every two hours, enabling election officials to monitor polling trends.
Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner chaired a meeting with representatives of recognised national and state political parties to discuss implementation of the Model Code of Conduct following the announcement of the election schedule.
During the meeting, party representatives were briefed on campaign regulations, expenditure limits and other guidelines that must be followed during the election period.
The DC urged political parties to strictly adhere to the code and avoid statements that could incite violence or involve provocative or personal attacks.
Officials added that the district administration, police, election expenditure monitoring teams and flying squads will remain active throughout the election period.
Static Surveillance Teams (SST) and Flying Surveillance Teams (FST) have already begun checking operations in different parts of the constituency following enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.
Our Tezpur correspondent adds: The district election administration in Sonitpur has intensified preparations for the forthcoming Assam Legislative Assembly Election 2026, with extensive training programmes being conducted for officials engaged in election duties.
The initiatives are being carried out under the supervision of District Election Officer Ananda Kumar Das to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of polling in the five Assembly constituencies of the district.
According to officials, training programmes for election personnel began on March 10, even before the formal notification of the elections.
On March 10, around 40 photographers and videographers were trained by the nodal officer of the EEM Cell at the conference hall of the District Commissioner’s office in Tezpur.
Subsequently, on March 13, master trainers conducted the first round of training for about 1,500 first polling officers at Tezpur College.
The first round of training for around 1,500 presiding officers was also completed at the same venue on Sunday.
On Monday, another training session was organised at Tezpur College for nearly 1,500 second polling officers and 1,500 third polling officers.
Officials said additional training programmes have been scheduled in the coming days.
On March 20, around 50 officials associated with the Model Code of Conduct will undergo training at the conference hall of the District Commissioner’s office.
This will be followed by a training programme for about 450 officials involved in EVM commissioning at the auditorium of Tezpur College on March 23.
Further, 180 zonal and sector officers connected with election management will receive training on March 25 at the District Commissioner’s conference hall.
The second round of training for presiding officers and first polling officers will again be held at Tezpur College on March 26, officials said.
Our Nagaon correspondent adds: The district administration has stepped up preparations for the forthcoming Assam Assembly elections scheduled to be held on April 9, with elaborate arrangements being made to ensure free, fair and transparent polling.
Addressing a press conference at the conference hall of the District Commissioner’s office, Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Debashish Sarma said a total of 15,51,530 voters in seven Assembly constituencies of the district will exercise their franchise in the upcoming polls.
Of the total voters, 7,78,208 are male and 7,73,270 female, he said, adding that polling will be conducted in 1,868 polling stations across the district, of which 154 have been identified as critical.
The Deputy Commissioner said the district administration has decided to set up centres for the distribution and collection of election materials as well as strong rooms at three government educational institutions—Nagaon Government Boys’ HS School, Nagaon Girls’ HS School and Nagaon Dawson HS and Multipurpose School.
According to Sarma, counting of votes for the Samaguri, Rupahi and Dhing Assembly constituencies will be carried out at Nagaon Dawson HS and Multipurpose School.
Counting for Nagaon, Batadroba and Raha constituencies will take place at Nagaon Government Boys’ HS School, while votes for Barhampur and Kaliabor constituencies will be counted at Nagaon Girls’ HS School.
He further said that 200 polling stations will be managed entirely by women polling officials and CCTV cameras will be installed at all polling stations in the district.
To ensure security and smooth conduct of the elections, a total of 28 companies of security forces comprising around 2,800 police and paramilitary personnel will be deployed across polling stations, he added.
Sarma also informed that 64 flying squad teams have been deployed in the district as part of the election monitoring mechanism.
The press briefing was also attended by Election Officer Shekharan Phukan and District Information and Public Relations Officer Bikash Sarma.
