DIBRUGARH, Feb 9 � Along with the rest of the State, civic polls were held today in Dibrugarh district with the poll percentage being 61.5 in the Dibrugarh Municipal Board election, while the percentages in Chabua and Naharkatia town committee polls were 76.5 and 70.2 respectively.
Polling was stalled in Namrup town after some printing errors were detected in the ballot papers in one of the booths in Ward No.5. The turnout in the town was 49 percent till 4 pm. The civic poll in Namrup was held for the first time.
The turnouts in other places of the State are as follows:
Jorhat: More than 68 percent of a total of 52,517 voters exercised their franchise in the civic poll for the Jorhat Municipal Board today.
�We are yet to receive some ballot boxes. As per the data available with us, 68 percent voters cast their votes till 4 pm,� said ADC Bubul Lekharu, who is the Magistrate in charge of the JMB poll. Though Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his MP son Gaurav Gogoi were to cast their votes here, they did not come to exercise their franchise.
Teok: About 78 percent turnout was recorded in the Teok town committee election today. Eighteen candidates were in the fray for four wards in this tiny township � four each from BJP and Congress, three from AGP and the rest of them being independents.
Tinsukia: An overall voting percentage of 70 was recorded in Tinsukia district for the Tinsukia Municipal Board and five town committees today. Out of these, Makum recorded 77.31%, Doomdooma 67.7%, Margherita 70%, Digboi 68%, Chapakhowa 72% and Tinsukia 65% turnout.
No untoward incident was reported from any corner of the district during polling.
Doomdooma: Polling passed off peacefully for the 10 wards under the Doomdooma town committee. Nearly 70% voters exercised their franchise in 16 polling booths to elect their representatives.
Mangaldai: Election was held peacefully today in 22 polling stations under the Mangaldai Municipal Board and 16 polling stations under the Kharupetia town committee, with the average poll percentage for the 10 wards under MMB being 74 and that of eight wards under KTC being 76.30 overall, informed Samar Kalita, DIPRO, Darrang.
Nagaon: The Nagaon Municipality Board election recorded a tentative 70 percent voter turnout, Kampur and Raha recorded around 74, while in Dhing, a whopping 80 percent of voters exercised their franchise today.
Some untoward incident took place in the Ward 20 and 24 under the Nagaon Municipality Board. At Dimaruguri ME School under Ward No.24, names of nearly 700 voters were missing in the polling station number 99. Initially, local people alleged that this smacked of a conspiracy and demanded a judicial probe. They also blocked the roads leading to the booth. Later, DC Monalisa Goswami arrived and arranged for their voting after 1 pm.
It was also reported that names of nearly 800 voters were not available in the list in booth number 103 at West Haibargaon LP School of Ward No.20. They also protested against it, before the Nagaon district authority intervened and allowed them to cast their votes.
About a hundred ballot papers were reported missing from the polling centre at Netaji Vidyapith LP School under Ward No.2 of Hojai Municipal Board. An FIR was lodged against the poll officers concerned.
A female member of the BJP was allegedly attacked in Ward No.2 of Kampur Town committee by Congress workers. No FIR, however, was lodged in this connection.
Sonari: Voting by and large passed off peacefully in the Sonari Municipal Board and Moran town committee elections. About 72 percent voters exercised their franchise in Sonari while the Moran town committee poll recorded 76%.
Badarpur: In the Badarpur civic election, polling passed off peacefully in all the four wards under the Badarpur Town Committee. Over 70 percent voters in Badarpur exercised their franchise. No untoward incident was reported from any polling station under Badarpur, although a person was arrested for casting false vote and he was sent to the Badarpur Police Station. Around 70% turnout was recorded in the Karimganj civic poll.
Bongaigaon: Weak monitoring of poll affairs by the administration allegedly marred the voting under the Bongaigaon municipality, where a 75.26% turnout was recorded.
Despite a ban on sale and distribution of liquor yesterday, today and on February 12, some political henchmen freely distributed liquor among voters today and last night in some wards to win their support, local people alleged. But the Excise Department did not have the courage to take action against them, which only revealed an unholy nexus between them and the department.
Even today, during the polling hours, a Congress hoarding erected at the College Road in north Bongaigaon for welcoming State party chief Anjan Dutta on Feb 3, remained intact in the heart of the town, which amounted to a breach of poll code. Some local political leaders allegedly distributed money among voters last night in Ward No.17, 10 and 4, local residents alleged.
A good number of voters in some wards allegedly cast their votes without showing any proof of identity at the beginning of polling.
The municipality body had conducted a survey on January 26 to revise the voters list in all its 25 wards and prepared a final roll. But most of the residents of the wards did not know about their status in the latest roll due to lack of transparency on the part of the municipal body, which caused a lot of resentment.
When the deprived voters asserted their right to vote outside the polling station in Ward No.2, a CRPF jawan assaulted a scribe of a vernacular daily causing injuries to him right in front of police personnel.
Stung by this attack, local mediapersons registered protest and demanded punishment to the jawan and justice to the injured scribe. Police have since registered a case against the accused jawan.
Tezpur: The average voting percentage in the elections to three town committees and municipality boards in Sonitpur district, including Tezpur, Dhekiajuli and Rangapara under Tezpur subdivision, was 68.09 today.
Although no major untoward incident was reported in the district during polling hours, in the Hazarapara polling booth under Ward No.18, sensation prevailed after the husband of the Congress candidate there tore some ballot papers apart, angry as he was with some people for not voting in favour of his wife.
At the Gandhi Memorial ME School polling booth under Ward No.13, 30 votes were allegedly cast by some Congress-backed miscreants, which also created a chaotic situation.
In Dhekiajuli, untoward incidents occurred at Ward No.4, 6 and 7, where the voters were allegedly forced to cast votes in favour of Congress candidates. While protesting against this, some BJP supporters assaulted the Congress MLA of Dhekiajuli, Habul Chakrabarty.
North Lakhimpur: Polling in North Lakhimpur was marked by minor incidents. The BJP candidate for Ward No.10 of North Lakhimpur Municipal Board, Amar Kundu, was assaulted by some miscreants during polling in North Lakhimpur. Polling in Narayanpur and Dhakuwakhana was marred by some minor incidents. At the Radhapukhuri LP School polling booth for Ward No.2 of Narayanpur town committee, angry voters stopped polling as a page of the electoral roll was found missing. At Bhojgaon LP School polling booth for Ward No.3 of Dhakuwakhana town committee, there were reports of impersonation by voters, which led to minor scuffle among supporters of some candidates.
Silchar: Over 65 percent turnout was recorded in Silchar civic poll even as the voting passed off peacefully barring some minor incidents. Lakhipur recorded a poll percentage of 74.62 during today�s polling.
Dergaon: The civic body election at Dergaon passed off peacefully, with the voter turnout being 60.64 percent.
Morigaon: The Morigaon Municipal Board election recorded a voting percentage of 76, where the polling was largely peaceful.
Gauripur: Around 70 percent of voters cast their votes in the Gauripur town committee election. No untoward incident was reported.
Goalpara: The elections to both the Goalpara Municipality Board and the Lakhipur Town Committee passed off peacefully, recording turnouts of 80.92% and 81.30% respectively.
Digboi: Polling in all the 16 wards under Digboi and Margherita town committees concluded peacefully. At Digboi, the voter turnout was 68% while Margherita recorded 70.2%.
Bokakhat: In the Bokakhat town committee election, which also ended peacefully today, the average polling was 74%.
Golakganj: Elections to the Dhubri Municipal Board recorded a poll percentage of over 70.
Nalbari: The Nalbari Municipal Board poll recorded 73.23% turnout while the Tihu town committee recorded 76.5%. No poll-related untoward incident was reported till the filing of this report.
Hailakandi: About 70 percent voting was recorded in the Hailakandi Municipal Board and Lala town committee elections. The voting was by and large peaceful in the district, although some persons were injured during a mild police lathicharge when supporters of BJP and independent candidates were protesting in front of the strong room, alleging that ballot boxes are being changed. Administration sources later informed that this was only a rumour.
Biswanath Chariali: The civic poll passed off peacefully in the Biswanath Chariali Municipal Board and the Gohpur town committee elections, with the voting percentage being 75.56 and 76.04 respectively.
