High voter turnout in Assam elections historic: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the high turnout in Thursday’s Assembly election was not “ordinary but historic”.

Sarma said the result of this election is “already visible — in the hope, pride, and happiness on the faces of our people”. Polling for all 126 assembly constituencies, held in a single phase, ended at 5 pm on Thursday, with an estimated voter turnout of 84.42 per cent, which was expected to rise further.

“What we set out to do was not merely fight an election, but to turn it into a movement — a movement to protect our civilisational values, our culture, and our land,” Sarma said in a post on X.

“Today, for the first time, our people have come out in unprecedented numbers – voting shoulder to shoulder, matching and even surpassing our opponents in turnout. In many polling booths, participation is crossing 95 per cent. This is not ordinary. This is historic,” he asserted. The CM said Assam has risen above language and caste, and “our people have voted with one clear resolve — to protect our land, our identity, and our culture from illegal infiltration and demographic aggression”.

“This is not just an election. This is a watershed moment in Assam’s history,” he said. Sarma added that the message is loud and clear: ‘’Assam will not surrender, Assam will fight, Assam will survive, Assam will endure.’’

In the 2021 assembly elections, held in three phases, voter turnout of around 82 per cent was recorded.

A total of 722 candidates are in the fray in this single-phase election, which is largely witnessing a direct contest between the BJP-led ruling coalition and the Opposition bloc headed by the Congress.