Assam Municipal Election Results 2022: BJP takes lead on 72 civic bodies; Congress, AGP ahead on 1 ward each

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is headed for a big win in the Assam municipal elections 2022. The saffron party has taken a lead in 72 out of the 80 municipal corporations in the state – which consists 977 wards – while the opposition Congress and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) are ahead on one civic body each.

According to the Assam State Election Commission (SEC), the BJP and its allies are leading on 548 out of the 977 wards. The Congress and its allies, meanwhile, are leading in 61 wards while others are ahead on 125 wards. Out of 977 wards, 57 had already been declared uncontested and elections were held for 920 wards.

The polling for the Assam municipal elections were held on March 6. The SEC said a voter turnout of 70 per cent was registered, adding no untoward incident was reported. The poll body further said it has not received a request for re-poll from any part of the state.

No untoward incidents like booth capturing or similar poll-related violence took place,” the SEC said, as reported by news agency PTI.

It should be noted that this was the first time when electronic voting machines (EVMs) were used instead of ballot papers for civic polls in Assam.

“We have made all the arrangements. Security has been beefed up. Since we are using EVMs this time, I believe the counting will get over early,” Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner (DC) Biswajit Pegu told news agency ANI ahead of the counting of votes.

This year, 2,532 candidates were in the fray. The ruling BJP fielded the maximum number of candidates with 825 nominees. The Congress, on the other hand, fielded 706 candidates while 243 people contested the polls on AGP ticket, as per the SEC. The number of eligible voters was 16,73,899, comprising 8,41,534 women and 17 transgenders.