A voter turnout of 72.14 per cent was recorded in Assam till 5 pm on Saturday in the first phase of assembly elections in the state, the Election Commission said.
Over 73.44 lakh voters exercised their franchise in 10,592 polling stations spread over 13 districts in the Barak Valley, the hill regions and parts of central and lower Assam.
It said all necessary security arrangements would be made to ensure the security of people attending the Shirui festival.
The Assam government wants to ban polygamy as "a component of the Uniform Civil Code" and will form a committee to examine whether the state legislature was empowered to prohibit the practice prevalent in parts of the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday.
Over 95 lakh voters will decide the fate of 539 candidates, including 43 females, in 65 constituencies spread across the state.
The Assam police suo motu registered the FIR against Gandhi and several other leaders for "wanton acts of violence" here during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' on Tuesday.
The protesters torched tyres and old furniture in the middle of the road in Kwakeithel and Uripok, demanding the release of the leader. The situation remained tense on Sunday morning.
The saffron party won 60 of the 126 seats, its allies Asom Gana Parishad nine and United Peoples Party (Liberal) six. Congress bagged 29 seats, its partner All India United Democratic Front 16 and Bodo Democratic Front four.
81 per cent voter turnout recorded in West Bengal, 80 per cent in Assam.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however, agreed to examine the constitutional validity of Section 8A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 empowering the Election Commission to undertake the delimitation of constituencies.
Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma added to the mystery by declaring only that the next CM would be from the BJP, without naming Sarbananda Sonowal, the CM of the outgoing government.
Jailed activist Akhil Gogoi will contest the upcoming elections in Assam from Sibsagar as a candidate of his newly-floated Raijor Dal.
At 4 am, troops roared their war cry! In the long running tradition of the armed forces, soldiers seek the blessings of the Goddess before setting out on their mission -- in war or peace. The Republic Day parade is one such mission.
The committee has also suggested two formulas for the reservation of seats for the indigenous people in the Assam assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, including 67 per cent quota for them.
The Commission said a ban has been put in place effective January 1, 2023 on the creation of new administrative units in the state till the exercise is completed.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday gave a miss to his right to vote in the Assam assembly election.
A high-level committee on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.
Rahul Gandhi was booked on Tuesday for 'wanton acts of violence' by the Assam Police as the political confrontation between the Congress leader and state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma escalated on the tenth day of the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', with Gandhi asserting that he does not get 'intimidated' by such tactics.
Murmu, a descendant of Sido-Kanu, who led the Santhal revolt in 1855, joined the party in Deoghar on Sunday in the presence of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Assam Cabinet on Sunday had decided not to register any case against the Congress MP or his British spouse, who the BJP has accused of having ISI links, but instructed the DGP to file an FIR against Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh.
Major Khathing was the first man to hoist the Indian flag in Tawang. He also brought Bum La under Indian control.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Speaker Tanka Bahadur Rai figure in the Congress's list of 118 candidates for the Assam assembly elections. The Congress finalised the names of all 118 candidates of the 126-member state assembly at a meeting of the party's election committee chaired by Sonia Gandhi on Saturday. The party is seeking a third consecutive term in power in Assam. The state will witness polling in two phases with the first phase covering 62 assembly seats on April 4.
Making a statement in the Assam assembly over Thursday's killing of four persons in police firing Assam Cabinet Minister Rockybul Hussain on Friday said that the problem started when police went to evict an illegal camp set up by the NDFB cadres at Bengtol area in Chirang district.
Tarun Gogoi is all set to become the chief minister of Assam for the third consecutive term with the Congress Legislature Party unanimously electing him as its leader in the meet held at the central hall of Assam assembly complex in Guwahati on Tuesday afternoon. The meeting was held in the presence of the All India Congress Committee observers in-charge of Assam Pranab Mukherjee and Digvijay Singh, state Pradesh Congress chief Bhubaneswar Kalita and many senior leaders.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi of raising questions on sensitive defence matters in Parliament after his marriage to a British citizen. Sarma alleged that Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has links with the Pakistani establishment, including working for an organisation allegedly a front for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Gogoi has rejected the allegations as "baseless" and said the BJP is trying to divert attention from its own failures.
Opposition parties in India, led by the Congress, have demanded a detailed discussion in Parliament on alleged discrepancies in voter lists. Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, highlighting concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. The opposition alleges large-scale duplication of EPIC numbers, which they claim undermines voter integrity and the electoral process. They have also pointed out instances of inflated voter lists in states like Maharashtra and Haryana. The Election Commission has acknowledged discrepancies but maintains that these are not widespread and that corrective measures are being taken. The opposition, however, insists on a comprehensive discussion on the matter to ensure the integrity of elections in India.
Yadav, during his first visit to Guwahati, said he has already spoken to Congress and will hold talks with the All India United Democratic Front later in the day to formalise the alliance.
'I don't believe there is an international conspiracy to swamp tribals in India or in Jharkhand.'
The BJP won both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
Hazarika, a former minister, said that he resigned from all posts in the AGP, including that of the general secretary.
Killing of a 30-year-old correspondent of the largest circulated vernacular newspaper in Assam by some unidentified assailants at Mourajhar area in Hojai in Nagaon district of Central Assam rocked the Assam Assembly on Thursday with Opposition members demanding action from the government to nab culprits.
MLA Bachchu Kadu had reportedly proposed in the Maharashtra assembly that stray dogs be sent to Assam to control their rising population, as they are consumed by locals in the northeastern state.
The constitution of a committee by the Centre to explore the feasibility of "one nation, one election" has opened up the possibility of Lok Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with a string of state assembly polls.
Manipur Police has registered a first information report (FIR) accusing the Assam Rifles of blocking their vehicle after an altercation between the two groups last week, while the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace Assam Rifles 'by any other paramilitary force permanently' from the state.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa on Tuesday said that the Centre is likely to sign a peace accord with militant organisations from the state's Adivasi communities within September.
Here are the constituency-wise mapped leads/results for the West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu assembly elections!
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
Sharing a government public notice on 'X', formerly Twitter, Sarma appealed to the people to send their suggestions on the proposed law to ban polygamy in Assam.
'Mamata needs to address the anger and resentment among various sections of the Hindu community because low-scale communal violence has always paid richer electoral dividends for the BJP.'
For the second in a span of 10 years, the Assam assembly on Wednesday adopted a unanimous resolution to demand before the Centre to recognise the perennial flood and erosion problem in Assam a national problem.
