GUWAHATI, Dec 10 - The second and concluding phase of the polls to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) covering 19 seats in the two districts of Kokrajhar and Chirang passed off with a record voter turnout today.
While in Kokrajhar, 77 candidates were in the fray in 12 seats, 34 candidates contested for seven seats in Chirang district. The electorate strength in the two districts was over 6.5 lakh and over 3.68 lakh respectively.
According to the State Election Commission website, the tentative percentage of voting at closing time was 78.80. The final percentage which is likely to go up a little bit will be formally declared later.
Earlier, the first phase of the polls in Udalguri and Baksa districts witnessed a polling percentage of 77.
State Election Commissioner Alok Kumar told The Assam Tribune that polling was peaceful barring some minor incidents but those did not disrupt the poll process. �The polls were by and large peaceful and the whole exercise during the both phases went off smoothly. The fact that the entire exercise necessitated no repolling would testify to this,� he said.
Kumar added that the high voter turnout was a major highlight of the two-phase polls, which broke the previous records in BTC elections. �What had been witnessed during the polls was unprecedented and it augurs well for the democratic process,� he said.
The polling stations were put under tight security cover even as some incidents of violence had taken place in the intervening period between the two phases of polls.
A total of 132 candidates, including from BPF, BJP, UPPL, Congress, AIUDF and Independent, were in the fray in the first phase, vying for 21 seats in the two districts.
Counting of votes will take place on December 12.
