Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Saturday that nearly 60 per cent of candidates contesting the upcoming Panchayat elections are women. He also noted that a significant portion of candidates are under 40 years old.
On X (formerly Twitter), CM Sarma shared: “Nominations for #AssamPanchayatPolls concluded yesterday. 59 per cent of our candidates are women. Many are under 40, and several have already won uncontested. The NDA is heading for a landslide victory.”
The panchayat elections in Assam had been delayed since December last year due to a court order preventing the notification of polls. The state government had sought permission to proceed with the elections, despite ongoing legal challenges, highlighting the importance of holding elections in the panchayats. After several hearings, the Gauhati High Court gave the green light for the elections in January.
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Responding to the court’s order, CM Sarma said, “The High Court has given us permission today to conduct the panchayat elections. However, we’ve lost time. If we start now, the elections will be held in mid-February, but we have class 10 and 12 exams next month. Holding elections then will cause significant disruptions for students in rural areas. Additionally, securing halls for vote counting will be challenging.”
The Gauhati High Court had initially barred the elections after several petitions raised concerns about errors in the constituency redetermination process. These petitions called for the elections to be postponed until the discrepancies were rectified.
In Assam, where panchayats are crucial for local governance and service delivery in rural areas, the postponement had far-reaching consequences. It disrupted local self-governance, slowed development initiatives, and delayed citizen engagement in the democratic process at the grassroots level.
Now, with elections scheduled to move forward, the focus remains on the participation of young and female candidates, offering a new dynamic for local governance in Assam.
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