Voting, being held in a single phase, started at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations since early morning across the state.
A total of 722 candidates are in the fray in this high-stakes election, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party aiming for a third consecutive term, while the Indian National Congress is seeking to return to power after being ousted in 2016.
An electorate of around 2.50 crore — including 1.25 crore women and 318 from the third gender — is eligible to vote across 31,490 polling stations.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, and AJP chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Several cabinet ministers, including AGP’s Atul Bora and Keshab Mahanta, along with BPF’s Charan Boro, are also contesting.
Among parties, the Congress has fielded the highest number of candidates at 99, followed by the BJP with 90 and the AIUDF with 30. NDA allies AGP and BPF are contesting 26 and 11 seats respectively.In the opposition camp, Raijor Dal is contesting 13 seats, AJP 10, CPI(M) 3 and APHLC 2. Outside the two main alliances, the AAP and UPPL are contesting 18 seats each, TMC 22, JMM 16, while 258 independents are also in the fray.
The ruling NDA comprises the BJP, AGP and BPF, while the opposition alliance includes the Congress, Raijor Dal, AJP, CPI(M), APHLC and CPI(ML).
Counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.
