GUWAHATI
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the Congress appeared to have given up on the panchayat polls scheduled in the State on May 2 and 7.
He said members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had so far won 200 anchalik panchayat and 18 zila parishad seats uncontested.
“The results indicate Congress has virtually given us a walkover and that it wants us to set a record win in the panchayat elections,” the Chief Minister told journalists.
Such has been the situation that the BJP has let its members contest with each other in several areas, he said. “We have told them to make it a festival of friendly fight,” Mr. Sarma added.
The Congress, however, said the BJP had been intimidating its workers and trying to dissuade them from contesting the panchayat polls.
“After showing overconfidence, the BJP resorted to threats and intimidation against Congress candidates after sensing the public mood. The BJP has unleashed violence to prevent our workers from contesting and campaigning,” senior Congress leader Ripun Bora said.
‘Setting the tone’
The Chief Minister said the outcome of the panchayat polls would keep the BJP and its allies ahead in a string of elections over the next few months.
The elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council, the Mising Autonomous Council, and the Sonowal-Kachari Autonomous Council are scheduled before the Assembly election by May 2026.
“We will win all these elections comfortably,” Mr. Sarma said.
The panchayat elections will take place across 27 of Assam’s 34 districts. The rural polls are not held in seven districts that fall under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
According to the State Election Commission, about 1.8 crore voters — 90.71 lakh males, 89.65 lakh females, and 408 others — are expected to exercise their franchise across 25,007 polling stations.
The voters are expected to elect 21,920 gram panchayat (GP) members, 2,192 GP presidents, GP vice-presidents and anchalik panchayat (AP) members each, 181 AP presidents and AP vice-presidents each, and 397 zila panchayat members.
Officials said 10,883 of the 21,920 seats for GP members, and 1,097 of the 2,192 seats for GP presidents are reserved for women.
