The second phase of Lok Sabha elections passed off peacefully in Hojai district under No 10 Nowgong Lok Sabha Constituency on Thursday.
In the 793 polling stations in three Legislative Assembly Constituencies (LACs) – Hojai, Jamunamukh and Lumding – voters were seen waiting in long serpentine queues right from morning 7 am to exercise their suffrage.
Even after the stipulated hours of voting (7 am to 5 pm) was over, a large number of voters were still seen waiting enthusiastically to cast their votes. Due to technical snags in EVM machines, voting started late in few of the polling booths.
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Till 7 pm, around 78.44 per cent of votes were polled in entire Hojai district and percentage in the three LACs are – 90 No Jamunamukh LAC – 76.51 per cent, 91 Hojai LAC – 80.01 per cent and 92 Lumding LAC -78.80 per cent. A lot of disabled people also came to exercise their franchise.
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) supremo and Dhubri Lok Sabha Sitting MP, Badruddin Ajmal, casted his vote at the Bardonkigaon ME School under Gopalnagar Panchayat in Hojai.
Talking to Northeast Now, Ajmal said, “Our fight is against BJP and the saffron party should be wiped out from the political map of the nation”.
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He was optimistic that the AIUDF will win all three seats – Dhubri, Karimganj and Barpeta. He was also “positive” about the Kokrajhar seat where his party has supported the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) candidate UG Brahma.
Ajmal further stated that since his party’s main fight was against the saffron party, “we have not fielded any candidate in the remaining 11 seats to give Congress full space to lock horns with the BJP”.
However, Ajmal lamented that the Congress was not helping his party as the latter has “fielded big names in all the three seats where the AIUDF candidates are also contesting”.