Incumbent MLA and AGP candidate of Lakhimpur constituency Utpal Dutta on Saturday alleged that BJP and Ganashakti party members forced his supporters to cast their vote in favour of the saffron party candidate, Manab Deka.
The Lakhimpur constituency went to the polls during the first phase of the Assam Assembly elections on Saturday.
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“Members of BJP and Ganashakti today forced some of my supporters in polling station 197 in the Lakhimpur constituency to vote for the BJP candidate. This is unethical as no one can force a person to cast their vote in favour of a candidate,” Utpal Dutta.
This incident shows the internal divide existing between the BJP and its ally AGP, though both parties had agreed to contest the Assam Assembly elections in a friendly manner.
On the other hand, the public asked the AGP MLA to leave a polling station in ward number 11 of North Lakhimpur for his alleged involvement in trying to influence some voters to cast their votes in his favour.
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Also read: Assam Assembly elections: Polling begins in 47 constituencies, key candidates cast vote
Polling in all four legislative assembly constituencies in the Lakhimpur district began peacefully with reports of brisk polling coming from Bihpuria, Naoboicha, Lakhimpur and Dhakuwakhona constituencies.
More than 50 per cent turnout was reported from most of the polling centres across all the constituencies till 11 am.
However technical snags in polling machines marred voting in some polling stations in the district.
There have been reports of EVM glitches in Ujjalpur LP School, Lilabari LP School and NL College polling stations which delayed the voting process.
There has been no report of any untoward incident coming from any part of the district during the polling time so far.