Polling largely peaceful at Ratabari, 74.37% voter turn out

October 21: Polling for the by-elections in four Assembly Constituencies of Ratabari, Sonari, Rangapara and Jania assembly constituencies in Assam took place on Monday. Polling started at 7 AM after the procedure of mock poll was over. At Ratabari, there was some issues regarding EVM/VVPAT in certain booths, but these were soon solved by the administration.

At Ratabari, the polling was conducted in 202 booths out of which 6 were earmarked as sensitive. Elaborate security arrangements were also made for this purpose. 986 polling persons were trained for conducting the by-election. Out of the 202 polling booths, one of them was earmarked as all-female polling station. The all-female polling was Ramkrishna Vidyapith. Further, arrangement was made for live webcasting in 11 polling booths.

Though the polling was closed at 4 PM, but the final figure of the total percentage of votes cast has not yet been officially ascertained. However, sources in the administration revealed that Ratabari recorded an estimated 74.37 percent voter turn out.

Though the polling was largely peaceful, however, towards the end of the poll, some sporadic incidents of chaos were reported. Congress MLA Kamalakhhya Dey Purkayastha alleged that BJP has roped in some anti-social elements from outside Ratabari who entered some polling booths for the intention of rigging. He asserted that due to the vigilance of the Congress team, the attempts of rigging could be foiled. He further stated that BJP has involved in rigging sensing their sure defeat at Ratabari.

However, BJP MLA Krishnendu Paul has refuted the allegations made by Congress MLA as purely baseless. He said that BJP is a party with ideology. Rigging is part and parcel of Congress culture. He said that the Congress knows very well that they will be defeated and so are making up stories about rigging.

Meanwhile, many of the polling teams have started their return journey towards the strongroom at Karimganj. The counting of votes will take place in Karimganj College on 24 October, 2019.