GUWAHATI: Assam and Meghalaya witnessed brisk polling during by-elections on Wednesday.
Assam’s Samaguri, Dholai, Sidli, Behali and Bongaigaon constituencies and Meghalaya’s Gambegre seat went to by-polls. Polling was peaceful barring some minor stray incidents of violence in Samaguri.
Till 5 pm, the combined voter turnout in Assam was 72.96 per cent. Election department officials said the figure would go up as people were in queues, waiting to exercise their franchise. The voter turnout in Gambegre was 90.84 per cent.
The by-polls in the six seats were necessitated by the election of their sitting MLAs to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
The election department in Assam had made adequate arrangements across the five constituencies to ensure smooth and peaceful polling.
Adequate security arrangements were made particularly in the Samaguri constituency which had witnessed a series of pre-poll violence.
A straight contest was expected between Tanzil Hussain, son of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, and Diplu Ranjan Sarma of the BJP. The Hussain senior held the seat since 2001 until his election to Lok Sabha.
The five seats in Assam had altogether 34 candidates – 11 in Samaguri, eight each in Dholai and Bongaigaon, four in Behali and three in Sidli.
Meanwhile, the polls in Meghalaya’s Gambegre will decide the fate of Mehtab Chandee A Sangma, wife of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, among others. She contested on the ticket of National People’s Party which heads the state’s ruling coalition. The contest here was between her and the Congress’ Jingjang Marak.