HT Correspondent
KOKRAJHAR, Nov 12: The by-elections to five assembly constituencies in Assam, including the 31 Sidli LAC in Chirang district, are set to take place on Wednesday amidst tight security arrangements.
Polling parties, equipped with necessary materials like EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) and VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail), departed on Tuesday from Kajalgaon centers to their designated polling stations to ensure a fair and smooth by-election.
Related Posts:
In Sidli LAC, voting will take place in 273 polling stations across the constituency, where nearly 217,000 voters will exercise their democratic rights.
A total of 273 polling stations have been established in Sidli, 33 of which have been marked as critical due to heightened sensitivity. To maintain order and security, the district administration has taken extra precautions in these areas.
The Sidli constituency has an electorate of 2,17,183 individuals, comprising 1,07,894 male voters, 1,09,283 female voters, and 4 third-gender voters. To facilitate the voting process, a dedicated team of 1,224 polling officers has been appointed to ensure a smooth and efficient election process.
Notably, the by-election in Sidli LAC was necessitated following the resignation of MLA Joyanta Basumatary, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in the recently concluded Parliamentary elections from the Kokrajhar HPC constituency.
Three candidates are in the fray to contest the by-election in Sidli LAC: Nirmal Kumar Brahma of UPPL, Sanjiv Wary of Congress, and Siddha Kumar Basumatary of the BPF party.
The election campaigns of various parties in support of their candidates concluded on Monday evening, and the fates of the candidates will be sealed in the EVMs on Wednesday.
The district administration of Chirang and election authorities have fully prepared necessary strategies and arrangements to conduct the election in a free and fair manner. A strong security vigil across the LAC has been kept, as voting will start at 7:00 am.
“Polling personnel and security officials have arrived at their respective polling stations with polling materials this afternoon to ensure a fair and smooth by-election,” said a senior election official in Chirang.
The ruling United People’s Party Liberal has expressed confidence in a victory for its candidate, Nirmal Kumar Brahma, backed by the NDA alliance, expecting a significant margin of votes in Sidli LAC as people from various communities rally in support. The UPPL and NDA are hopeful of winning all contesting constituencies in Assam in these by-elections.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BPF and Congress parties have also expressed optimism about securing a mandate in the elections.
The counting of votes will take place on November 23.
