Guwahati, March 25: Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi on Friday appealed to the Assam State Election Commission to postpone the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections which have been scheduled in the midst of the week-long Rongali Bihu celebrations from April 14.
The State Election Commission had on Wednesday issued a notification to hold the elections to the 60 wards of Guwahati Municipal Corporation on April 19, 2022. The model code of conduct came into force with immediate effect.
Addressing mediapersons here, Gogoi said that Rongali Bihu is the biggest festival of Assam and that was not in the fitness of things to schedule the GMC polls in the midst of the week-long festival.
“So I appeal to the Assam State Election Commission to defer the poll and also to take measures against any move by the government to influence people by distributing money among the Bihu committees, a move which will influence the outcome of the civic elections,” the Sivasagar MLA claimed.
The appeal by Gogoi comes a day after the ruling BJP submitted a memorandum to the state poll body demanding the postponement of the polls.
A BJP delegation, led by state general secretaries Pulak Gohain and Diplu Ranjan Sarma, submitted the memorandum to the election commission on Thursday, stating that it would be difficult to campaign and hold the polls during the week-long Bihu celebration.
The decision to seek postponement of the polls was taken after consultation with prominent personalities here who expressed concern that the conduct of the elections during the scheduled period could be challenging as people of the state would be celebrating Assam’s biggest festival after two pandemic-affected years.
An electorate comprising 7, 96,829 persons are eligible to vote in 789 polling stations across the 60 wards of GMC. Among the voters, 39, 6891 are male; 39, 9911 are female while 27 voters are from the third gender.
“The election will be held from 7.30 am to 4.30 pm on April 19, 2022 while counting will begin from 8am till completion on April 21, 2022,” the state election commissioner had announced on Wednesday.
The last date of filing of nominations by the candidates has been scheduled on March 30, 2022 (between 11am to 3pm) while the last date for withdrawal of candidatures will be April 4, 2022 (before 3pm).