By Express News Service
GUWAHATI: The elections to the Guwahati Municipal Council (GMC) held on Friday passed off peacefully.
The polling was held in 57 of the 60 wards as the BJP had won the three others unopposed earlier.
The Congress had contested the highest number of wards at 54, followed by the ruling BJP 53 and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 39. The Asom Gana Parishad contested seven wards as per its seat-sharing arrangement with its ally BJP.
The BJP went to polls high on confidence after having won 75 of 80 municipal boards statewide recently. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had led its campaign.
The Congress campaign was spearheaded by the party’s state chief Bhupen Borah. The Congress has been embattled by a series of defections of its MLAs and leaders.
The AAP attempted to make inroads into the state through the GMC elections. The party had roped in its Delhi MLA Atishi Marlena to take part in a roadshow, indicating the party’s seriousness about the civic body elections.
The AAP had opened its account in Assam by winning two wards in Tinsukia and Lakhimpur earlier.
Altogether 197 candidates contested the GMC elections in the 57 wards.
There were 7,96,829 voters – 3,96,891 males, 3,99,911 females and 27 belonging to the third gender section. The votes will be counted on April 24.
