Assam: Lok Sabha elections in three phases, check details here

Over 2.17 crore people will be eligible to vote in the three-phase Lok Sabha election in Assam, including 7.06 lakh first time voters, a top election official said in Guwahati on Monday.

Assam, Chief Electoral Officer, Mukesh Chandra Sahu addressing a press conference in Guwahati, said the number of voters are being updated on a daily basis and the final figure will be published just before the polling.

"As per the last summary revision published on January 1 this year, we have a total electorate of 2,17,60,604 across Assam. Out of this, 1,11,32,782 are male and 1,06,27,319 are female," he said.

The CEO said with announcement of the polling dates on Sunday by the Election Commission of India, the modal code of conduct (MCC) comes into force with immediate effect and all the mechanism like flying squads and static surveillance teams to monitor that have been activated.

"We will also have an app -- cVIGIL. Anyone can take a picture or video and upload it in the app. Then our team will go and take action. The MCC is for having a level playing field for all candidates and we will implement that strictly.

There is no question of any bias to ruling party candidates (as alleged by the opposition)," he added.

To oversee the entire process, the ECI will send general observers and expenditure observers, while police observers may also be sent depending on the requirement 

The voting in Assam will take place at 28,143 polling stations in three phases on April 11, 18 and 23, while the counting of votes will be on May 23 after completion of the entire seven-phase voting across the country, he added.

During the first phase, voting will happen for Tezpur, Kaliabor, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur constituencies at 9,574 polling stations with 75,16,284 electorates, Sahu said.

Karimganj (SC), Silchar, Autonomous District (ST), Mangaldoi and Nawgong will go for polling in the second phase, in which 68,36,496 persons will vote at 8,992 election booths.

The CEO informed that Dhubri, Kokrajhar (ST), Barpeta and Gauhati seats will witness elections at the last phase across 9,577 polling stations, where 74,07,824 people will vote.

When asked about the first time voters, Sahu said: "We have divided the voters as per age cohorts. In the 18-19 years category, we have 7,06,489 people, who are first time voters.

However, there are some more people who did not register their names in before last elections and did it this time. They are also first time voters and fall in 20-29 years bracket. " 

The Assam CEO Office has not enumerated exactly how many people registered themselves for voting after the 2016 Assembly elections in the state yet, he added.

There are also about 60,000 service voters, who are staying outside the state and will vote through postal ballot.

For the first phase, the ECI will issue notification on March 18 and fixed March 25 for last date of nominations, March 26 for scrutiny, March 28 for last date of withdrawal and polling on April 11.

In the second phase, the notification will be issued on March 19 and ECI fixed March 26 for last date of nominations, March 27 for scrutiny, March 29 for last date of withdrawal and polling on April 18.

During the third phase, the ECI will issue notification on March 28 and fixed April 4 for last date of nominations, April 5 for scrutiny, April 8 for last date of withdrawal and polling on April 23.

Talking about the polling stations, Sahu said 1,913 have been identified as critical and 3,663 as hyper sensitive, but these are constantly being updated as vulnerability mapping is going on across the state.

"The critical booths are those which saw over 90 per cent polling in last time and 75 per cent voting went to one candidate or some sort of violence reported. The hyper sensitive segregation is done with perception analysis like prone to insurgency or threat of communal clashes," he said.

For the critical and sensitive polling booths, central paramilitary personnel and micro observers will be deployed, while the entire process will be video-graphed along with web casting, Sahu informed.