Dibrugarh (Assam) [India], April 19 : Union Minister and BJP candidate from Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency, Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday cast his vote at a polling station in Dibrugarh town at Sahitya Sabah Bhawan. After casting his vote, he said that there was good public participation in the voting, which is a good sign for democracy.
"I would only say that the cooperation and participation of the public is a very good sign for our democracy because democracy becomes stronger when there is public participation and we are seeing a lot of public participation this time, so I think the public is happy," Sonowal told ANI.
"I feel that PM Modi ji has done the work of bringing a change in everyone's life, hence the public is happy and today people are spontaneously participating in voting in this great festival of democracy," he added.
When ANI asked about why he thinks people would vote for him, he said that it is because of the development work done by the BJP government.
"The new generation needs employment. Farmers' income should be doubled and Modi ji has done the work of giving all this. Modi ji has also done the work of increasing the income of the laborers and providing employment. We have increased the pace of development of the country by taking all sections of society including labourers, farmers and others That is why the people are happy at every level," he said.
Sonowal urged voters to press the button of lotus in EVMs and make Narendra Modi the prime minister for the third time.
The Voting for Lok election in First phase is underway across 21 states in 102 seats, including 5 seats in Upper Assam. while for the remaining seats, voting will be held in 6 phases
In Assam first phase The five seats of voting are underway, including Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Kaziranga and Sonitpur. The BJP is contesting all of these seats.
Total 36 candidates are frayed in all five constituencies of Assam.
Kaziranga has the highest numbers of 11 candidates, followed by nine in Lakhimpur, eight in Sonitpur, five in Jorhat and three in Dibrugarh.
The prominent candidates contesting in the first phase are Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Lok Sabha Deputy leader of the opposition and Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, sitting MPs Topon Gogoi and Pradan Baruah, Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and BJP MLA Ranjit Dutta.
In the outgoing Lok Sabha, BJP held nine seats, Congress three, AIUDF and an independent one each from the state.
In Assam, voting will be conducted in 3 phases for 14 seats. 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 in two seats and one seat respectively.