Guwahati (Assam) [India], August 26 : The Assam State Election Commission on Tuesday announced the poll dates for 40 council constituencies of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The election for 40 BTC constituencies will be held on September 22, and counting of votes will be held on September 26.
According to the notification issued by the Assam State Election Commission, the last date for filing nominations is September 2.
Scrutiny of nominations will be conducted on September 4, and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is September 6.
A total of 26,57,937 voters across the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), comprising five districts, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri and Tamulpur, will cast their votes at 3,359 polling stations.
Of the total electorate, 13,23,399 are male voters, 13,34,521 are female voters and 17 belong to the other category.
In the 2020 BTC elections, the total number of voters stood at 23,87,046, reflecting an 11.35 per cent increase in the current electoral roll.
In the previous BTC elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) had jointly formed the Bodoland Territorial Council government. Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma had attended several election campaign rallies in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), which is constituted with five districts - Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri and Tamulpur.
This time, both the BJP and UPPL will contest the elections independently.
Hagrama Mohilary-led Bodoland People's Party (BPF), Congress and other regional parties will also fight in this election.
Of the total 40 council constituencies, 30 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), five for non-STs, and the remaining five are unreserved.
On Wednesday, August 13, the Assam State Election Commission published the final photo electoral rolls for 40 Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) constituencies, containing 26.58 lakh voters.
According to the Assam State Election Commission, there are 3279 polling stations in 40 Bodoland Territorial Council constituencies.
Earlier this month, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed confidence in the outcome of the upcoming Bodaland Territorial elections, stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would achieve good results in the polls.
"BJP is in a very good position and we will get good results in the upcoming Bodoland elections," CM Sarma told reporters.