All necessary arrangements have been completed and COVID-19 protocols put in place in 47 constituencies where voting will be started today (Saturday) at 7 am for the first phase of Assam Assembly elections.
The Election Commission (EC) has decreased the maximum number of people who can cast their votes at a polling booth to 1,000.
The EC has also ensured sanitization of the electronic voting machine (EVMs), wearing of a mask and other protective gear by polling personnel and the availability of thermal scanner, hand sanitiser, soaps at the polling stations.
There are 11,537 polling stations in the first phase, out of which 9,620 are main polling stations and 1,917 auxiliary polling stations.
There are a total of 81, 09,815 eligible voters out of which 40, 77,210 are male voters, 40, 32,481 are female voters and 114 are transgender.
The fate of 264 candidates (241 male and 23 female candidates) will be decided in first phase of the elections.
A number of heavyweight candidates including Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Congress president Ripun Bora, Assembly speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami are in the fray in phase-1 of the election.
The BJP is contesting in 39 of the 47 seats while its alliance partner the AGP is contesting in 10 seats.
Congress is contesting in 43 seats and its allies AIUDF, RJD, Anchalik Gana Morcha (as an independent) and CPI-ML in one seat each.
Assam Jatiya Parishad is contesting in 41 seats while the Raijor Dal is contesting in 19 seats as independents.
A total of 78 independents are in the fray in the first phase of the Assam Assembly election 2021.
There are 23 women candidates on the battlefield in the first phase.