The forthcoming lok Sabha elections in Assam this time will see flavours of Rongali Bihu, the most colourful festival of the State.
As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), lok Sabha polls will be held in three phase in Assam - on April 7, April 12 and on April 24. While five parliamentary constituencies-Tezpur, Jorhat, Kaliabor, lakhimpur and Dibrugarh will go to polls on the first phase of polls, polls will be held in Karimganj, Silchar and Diphu lok Sabha constituencies on April 12 as part of the second phase.
The third phase of polls will take place on April 24 and it would see polling in six parliamentary constituencies - Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Guwahati, Mangaldai and Nagaon.
Although the Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu, is celebrated on the first day of the Assamese calendar year starting with the month of Bohag, yet the festivity continues throughout the month and beyond in most parts of the State.
With the ECI deciding to hold the three-phased lok Sabha polls on the above mentioned dates, it is likely that the elections will see the colours of Bihu too. “We hope to tie up with some local artiste to compose some Bihu songs to highlight the issues and our party manifesto and play them to woo the voters. Music has always been very effective to reach to the people and we hope this Bihu season will help us reaching to the people in more effective way through the tunes,” said a spokesman of the Congress in Assam.
“Rongali Bihu celebrations will start from mid April and in many places the functions will continue till the month of June and beyond. The political parties are likely to take the opportunity to highlight their election campaign through Bihu songs and by using the Bihu music,” said Aniruddha Baruah, a local resident and an organiser of Bihu function.
Thousands of colourful programmes of dance and music are being organised across the State to celebrate the Rongali Bihu, which marks the beginning of Assamese calendar year. “With the lok Sabha polls coinciding with the Rongali Bihu, we hope to see a colourful election this time,” said Ranjit Hazarika another organiser of Bihu function.
A total of 1.87 crore of voters will cast their votes in 24,275 polling stations across the State during the three phase of polls for election to the 14 parliamentary constituencies of the State. Assam Chief Election Officer Vijayendra said that the three phase election in Assam will be conducted at an estimated cost of Rs 82 crore and that there would be involvement of approximately 1.25 lakh people to conduct the polls across the State.