Dispur: In an unusual and welcoming sight, voters in Assam's Dhubri Ghat were seen arriving at a polling booth in boats as voting for the third phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections commenced on Tuesday. Notably, the voting began in four constituencies of Assam, including Dhubri, in the third phase at 7 am.
As polling began, a large queue formed near the Ghat as people embarked on boats to cast their vote at the local polling booth. "It's encouraging to see voters in Dhubri Ghat going the additional mile to make their thoughts heard. Their willingness to participate in the democratic process is absolutely admirable," noted one netizen.
The seats of Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Dhubri have gone to polls on Tuesday. Over 81.49 lakh voters of four parliamentary constituencies in Assam will decide the fate of 47 candidates, including six women, in the third phase of polls. At least 14 candidates are in the fray in the Barpeta seat while 13 candidates are contesting in the Dhubri seat, 12 candidates in Kokrajhar, and 8 in Guwahati.
Sitting MP and AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal is contesting from Dhubri seat against Congress MLA and former Minister Rakibul Hussain candidate and AGP candidate Zabed Islam. Additionally, eight-time MLA and former Minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury is contesting as AGP candidate from Barpeta seat against Congress candidate Deep Bayan and CPI (M) candidate and sitting MLA Manoranjan Talukdar.
Anurag Goel, Chief Electoral Officer of Assam on Tuesday said that all preparations have been made to conduct the third phase of polls in Assam. "We have set 9,516 polling stations across the districts under four parliamentary constituencies... Dhubri seat is the largest in electoral size and Kokrajhar is the smallest. We have done webcasting in 5266 polling stations," he told news agency ANI.
The first phase of polls for five parliamentary constituencies - Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Kaziranga was held on April 19 with a voter turnout of 78.25 per cent. The second phase of polls was also held in five parliamentary constituencies - Silchar, Karimganj, Diphu, Nagaon and Darrang-Udalguri - on April 26 and the polling percentage was recorded at 81.17 per cent.
Voters in 93 Lok Sabha constituencies in 11 states and Union Territories will participate in the largest festival of democracy in the world. 25 seats in Gujarat, , 14 in Karnataka, 11 in Maharashtra, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, 9 in Madhya Pradesh, 7 in Chhattisgarh, 5 in Bihar, 4 in West Bengal, 2 each in Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu are going for polls in this phase.
(with inputs from ANI)
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