One injured in first phase of rural polls in Assam

One person was injured in police firing when he attacked security personnel with a sharp weapon at a polling station in Golaghat district during the first phase of panchayat elections on Wednesday.

A police officer said the person, suspected to be mentally unstable, beat up some voters who were standing in a queue to exercise their franchise at Habibul gaon polling station at 7 am.

Around mid day, the man returned to the polling station with a sharp weapon and attacked the posse of security personnel posted there.

The security personnel fired at him in self defence injuring him in his leg, police said.

The man identified as Gyanendra Rajkhowa was rushed to hospital where he is undergoing treatment, they added.

Polling is underway in 16 administrative districts of the state to decide the political fate of over 43,515 contestants for 15,899 various posts in rural bodies.

Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 3 pm, Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) sources said.

Some voters who had exercised their franchise in the last Assembly elections in 2016 and the Panchayat polls in 2013 complained that their names did not figure in the voters' list in some constituencies, leading to heated exchanges between them and the polling officials, the sources said.

Among the contestants, 796 are in the fray for 251 zila parishad (district panchayat) member seats, 3,799 for 1,304 anchalik panchayat (intermediate panchayat) member seats, 4,155 for 1304 gaon panchayat (village panchayat) president posts and 34765 for 13,040 gaon panchayat member seats, the ASEC office said.