Guwahati: The stage is set for polling to the 40 constituencies of Bodoland Territorial Council in four districts of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts amid tight security arrangements.
Security in the four districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri have been further tightened following incidents of pre-poll violence in which one person was killed and six others were injured in Kokrajhar yesterday, police said. Additional security forces have been deployed in the four districts to ensure there were no incidents of further violence during the polls, a Defence spokesman said. An estimated 20,64,099 electorate was expected to exercise their franchise in 2,700 polling booths spread across the four districts.
The district authorities have declared 480 polling stations as very sensitive and over 730 as sensitive. Altogether 316 candidates were in the fray for the 40 seats and the main contest was likely to be between the ruling Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) led by Hagrama Mohilary, the Peoples’ Coordination for Democratic Rights, the Sanmilito Jonogoshthiyo Oikyo Mancha and the BJP, which was contesting for the first time in the council polls.
There were 46 territorial council constituencies in the BTC, but elections would be held for 40 seats with the Assam Governor nominating six members to the Council from the unrepresented communities. The BTC came into existence in 2003 as part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Centre, the state government and the Bodo Liberation Tigers. Elections were held for the Council for the first time in 2003 with the BPF winning the majority and retaining power for the second consecutive term in 2010.
The state government has declared a public holiday in the four districts tomorrow and the date of counting has been fixed on April 11 and re-polling, if any, would be held on April 10. (PTI)
