Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken an early lead in the counting of votes for the Assam panchayat elections, which began across the state on Sunday morning under heightened security, officials confirmed.
This year’s elections, held on May 2 and May 7 in 27 districts, marked the first panchayat polls conducted since the delimitation of constituencies.
The counting, underway at 39 centres, began at 8 am and is expected to continue through Monday night due to the volume and complexity of the process, which involves three separate ballot papers per voter.
Initial results from the Assam State Election Commission show the BJP winning six Anchalik Panchayat seats in Majuli district.
Early trends indicate the BJP is leading in 355 Anchalik Panchayat constituencies, with its ally, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), ahead in 42.
The Congress is trailing behind, leading in only 21. In the Zilla Parishad segment, the BJP leads in 35 seats, with the AGP ahead in two, while Congress has yet to secure a lead in any.
Although Gram Panchayat member posts were contested without party affiliations, making all candidates independents, the elections generated widespread political interest.
In total, 2,912 candidates across various levels have already been declared elected unopposed, including 34 Zilla Parishad members, 311 Anchalik Panchayat members, and 2,567 Gram Panchayat ward members.
ASEC Commissioner Alok Kumar noted that official results are still coming in slowly due to the extensive logistical demands.
He emphasised that the complexity of the ballot and high voter turnout make the process time-consuming.
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A senior official overseeing the count added that thousands of counting agents were present from early morning and that all centres had been placed under strict security in response to isolated incidents of violence during the polling phases.
The elections saw enthusiastic participation, with 74.71 percent voter turnout reported from an eligible electorate of over 1.8 crore people.
The electorate included over 90.7 lakh men, 89.6 lakh women, and 408 individuals identifying as third gender. Voting took place across 25,007 polling stations statewide.
