77.75 pc turnout recorded in Assam's Bodoland Territorial Council polls

Guwahati, Sep 22 (PTI) An estimated 77.75 per cent of the total 26.58 lakh voters on Monday exercised their franchise in the elections to the 40-member Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which will decide the fate of 316 candidates, officials said.

The final turnout is awaited as reports from polling booths in remote areas of the five districts of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) were still coming in, they said.

No untoward incident was reported from any of the 3,359 polling stations.

"For the first time in Assam's history, these council elections have been conducted peacefully. Not a single bullet has been fired," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

BTC chief Pramod Boro exercised his franchise at Goibari in Tamulpur district, while BPF president Hagrama Mohilary cast his vote at Debargaon Higher Secondary school in Kokrajhar.

Polls are being held amid tight security, though no violence took place in the run-up to the elections.

The total number of voters in the five districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri and Tamulpur is 26,58,153, of whom 13,23,536 are men, 13,34,600 women and 17 people of the third gender, officials said.

The BJP is contesting the council polls independently for the first time, while candidates from the ruling United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), led by present BTC chief Pramod Boro, and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF), led by former BTC Chief Hagrama Mohilary, are also in the fray.

Repoll, if any, will be held on September 24. Counting of votes will be held on September 26, and the entire election process will be completed by September 28.

Among the 40 seats in the BTC, 30 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates, five for non-STs and the remaining five are open to both ST and non-ST candidates.

A public holiday was declared on Monday in all five districts where polls were held.

This is the second council poll after a fresh Bodo Accord was signed in New Delhi on January 27, 2020. PTI DG MNB DG ACD