NALBARI, April 19 - The Nalbari LAC under Mangaldai Lok Sabha constituency recorded higher percentage in the second phase of polling held yesterday compared to the Lok Sabha poll of 2014.
The final poll percentage in the Assembly constituency is 84.26 per cent, which is 3 per cent higher than the last Lok Sabha poll held in 2014. In 2014 Lok Sabha poll, despite the wave for change and the Modi magic, the Nalbari LAC recorded only 81.06 per cent votes.
Out of the 1,99,418 votes of the LAC, 1,68,032 votes were polled. Even 23 polling stations of the LAC recorded above 90 per cent votes.
The month-long effort of the Nalbari Deputy Commissioner to make the voters aware about their rights has been considered a major factor for the higher voter turnout. It may be added here that as the Nalbari LAC is a bastion of well-informed and elite section of voters, no political party can easily deceive the voters.
The Deputy Commissioner Bharat Bhushan Dev Choudhury, who is also the District Election Officer, for the first time utilised the rich folk performing art forms of the area like puppetry, dhulia and ojah pali to educate the voters about their rights to build a healthy democracy. The Deputy Commissioner even sent letters to over one lakh families of the district requesting them to exercise their franchise. He also sent another letter to the student community to encourage the new and first-time voters.
It was very interesting that when this correspondent visited the polling stations yesterday, some voters brought the DC�s letter as a symbol of pride.
�My family members have come to cast votes early in morning as the Deputy Commissioner sent letters requesting us to exercise our franchise,� said one Tilak Deka, who cast his vote at Ghograpar area with his wife and parents.
The Nalbari Deputy Commissioner also took steps for the convenience of octogenarian, nonagenarian and centenarian voters. On the other hand, the Deputy Commissioner during the training of polling personnel sent a message to common voters that systematic polling will be held in the district and confidence was created among the common men to cast their votes.
When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner Bharat Bhusan Dev Choudhury said that the awareness programme initiated by the district administration helped in increasing the voter turnout in the district. He further said that Nalbari is the only district where not a single poll-related violent incident was reported.
