By Bhupen Goswami
Guwahati : Counting of votes is being held today for Panchayat elections in Assam. Elaborate arrangements have been made to conduct error-free counting. More than 78,000 candidates are in the fray in the polls. 82 percent voting was recorded in the two-phase elections. On Tuesday , re-polling was held at 53 polling stations which went to 
polls in the second phase. All major political parties including BJP, Congress, Asom Gana Parishad, Bodoland Peoples Front, Left parties and AIUDF among others contested the elections. 78,571 candidates are contesting for the 26,808 PRI seats. Altogether 1,512 are contesting for the 420 Zila Parishad member seats, 7,004 contesting for 2,199 Anchalik Panchayat member seats, 7,667 candidates are in the fray for 2,199 Gaon Panchayat president seats and 62,388 candidates vying for the 21,990 gaon panchayat member seats. However, the latest trends of the counting reveal that Bharatiya Janata Party so far is leading the race with the highest number of votes being cast in their favour. As usual, BJP is followed by other giants like Congress, AGP and other independent parties. Results of 14 village panchayats in Dibrugarh are declared in which BJP secured a win in 8 panchayats. The rest of the 6 village panchayats are won by AGP and Congress with 3 each. In Lakhimpur, two village panchayat’s results are declared in which one is occupied by BJP and the other is by Congress. Whereas in Majuli, the results in 12 village panchayats are declared and in 10 out of 12 villages BJP and Ganashakti alliance candidates have secured the victory. On the other hand, the other two seats are won by Congress candidates. The results in Morigaon, although are not declared yet, but another untoward incident took place in a vote-counting centre. A candidate fell ill amidst the counting of votes in the Morigaon centre. The ward member contestant is being taken to hospital for primary treatment. On the other hand, amidst the cut-throat competition between the political parties in different village panchayats of the state, an instance of tie has come into notice wherein both BJP and Congress candidate have gained an equal number of vote. This has happened in Lahowal constituency’s Khanikar gaon village panchayat under the Dibrugarh district wherein both Congress and BJP candidates have secured an equal number of votes and hence, the election officer has not been able to declare the name of the winning candidate.
