Sonitpur (Assam) [India], April 18 : The Election Commission has set up 150 polling stations in Sonitpur district under the Sonitpur parliamentary constituency and the women polling personnel on Thursday left to the women stations to conduct the first phase of polls to be held on April 19.
Kavita Konwar Kakati, Additional District Commissioner of Sonitpur District, told ANI, that there are 150 such polling stations in Sonitpur district, which will be managed by all women.
"The highest numbers of women polling stations have been set up in Sonitpur district across the state. More than 600 women polling personnel have left to the women polling stations. Women security personnel have also been deployed in these polling stations," Kavita Konwar Kakati said.
More than 16.25 lakh voters in the Sonitpur Lok Sabha seat will exercise their franchise in 1878 polling stations.
BJP candidate Ranjit Dutta is contesting from the Sonitpur seat against Congress candidate Premlal Ganju and AAP candidate Rishiraj Kaundinya.
Earlier, the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, Anurag Goel, said on Wednesday that all the vehicles carrying EVMs will be equipped with GPS tracking devices and satellite phones will be made available in far-flung areas.
"We have arranged GPS tracking of all the vehicles that will be carrying EVMs and this will be monitored by the District Election Officer, CEO and Election Commission. We have also provided satellite phones in very hard-to-reach areas," said Anurag Goel.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Assam, also showed confidence in conducting a free and fair election, as observers have been put in all the constituencies.
"Around 86.47 lakh voters will exercise their votes in 10,001 polling stations. The campaigning for the first phase of polls ended on Wednesday at 5 pm. In the first phase, we have around 86.47 lakh voters, out of which around 42,000 are 80+ age voters and 1500 are 100+ age. There are more than 58,000 PWD voters of which around 13,000 are visually impaired and we have made special arrangements for braille ballot papers," said Anurag Goel.
In Assam, the five seats going to the polls in the first phase are Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Kaziranga and Sonitpur. The BJP is contesting all of these seats.
A total of 36 candidates are frayed in all five constituencies of Assam. Kaziranga has the highest number of 11 candidates, followed by nine in Lakhimpur, eight in Sonitpur, five in Jorhat and three in Dibrugarh.
In Assam, voting will be conducted in 3 phases for 14 seats. The first phase on April 19 includes Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, and Sonitpur.
The second phase on April 26 covers Karimganj, Silchar, Mangaldoi, Nagaon, and Kaliabor. The third phase on May 7 includes Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, and Guwahati.
The BJP is contesting 11 seats, while its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People's Party Liberal, are contesting two seats and one seat, respectively.