Assam’s chief electoral officer, Anurag Goel, revealed on March 17 that the state is grappling with obstacles in preparing the electoral rolls for the delimitation process. Speaking at a press conference in Guwahati, he highlighted the ongoing nature of the electoral roll preparation, which will persist until the nomination deadline.
Goel emphasized that applications for inclusion of new names in the voter list can be submitted up to ten days before the nomination deadline. He assured that the office of the chief electoral officer of the state is fully equipped to ensure the smooth conduct of elections across the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam.
The CEO outlined various aspects of the three-phase Lok Sabha elections in Assam, underlining that security arrangements have already been put in place for the polls. Presently, 60 companies of security personnel have been deployed, with additional companies to be appointed during the voting period.
Assam will witness polling across 14 constituencies in three phases. The first phase is scheduled for April 19, covering five constituencies including Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, and Jorhat. The second phase, on April 26, will include Darrang-Udalguri, Diphu (ST), Karimganj, Silchar (SC), and Nagaon. The third phase, on May 7, will encompass Barpeta, Kokrajhar (ST), Dhubri, and Guwahati.
Goel assured that all necessary arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair elections, with the number of polling stations in Assam increased to 28,650. Adequate machines, including 34,380 EVMs and 12,000 additional machines, have been stocked, along with 37,245 VVPAT machines.
Responding to media inquiries, he disclosed that the total number of voters in the state, based on the already published electoral rolls, stands at 2,43,01,960. Among these, 1,21,79,358 are male, 1,21,22,188 are female, and 414 are third-gender voters.
