Hailakandi district of Assam on Sunday recorded around 78 per cent voters’ turnout in the second phase of panchayat election, though the figures may go up as polling personnel from interior areas did not reach the district headquarters till late hours.
Barring an incident of ballot box snatching at 610 No Bilpar LP School polling station by some miscreants, polling was by and large peaceful.
Polling that began at 7 am went well beyond the 3 pm deadline as long serpentine queues were witnessed in some polling stations till late evening.
The district administration deployed adequate forces in the vulnerable and hyper sensitive areas to ensure free, fair and peaceful election.
Election Observer Nirmal Kanti Debnath said the poll was by and large peaceful and thanked the people of the district in coming out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.
“Re-polling will take place or not will be decided only after we get reports from the zonal and sector officers,” he added.
The run-up to the second and final phase of polling in the district had witnessed high-voltage campaigning from major political parties.
The ruling BJP, Congress and AIUDF, among others have put up candidates for various posts in the panchayat elections.
A total of 3,220 candidates are in the fray – 80 for 11 ZPM, 345 for 62 GPP, 335 for 62 APM and 2,460 for 620 GPM. The district has total electorates of 3,87,132, of whom 2,13,309 are males and 1,73,823 females.
Counting of votes will be held on December 12 along with other districts of the State.