Panchayat Polls: BJP pushes women to forefront with 172 of 318 candidates

Guwahati, April 10: The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced a list of 318 candidates for the upcoming Panchayat elections, scheduled to be held on May 2 and 7.

The announcement followed a core committee meeting on Wednesday, where party leaders finalised the names after several rounds of consultations and screening.

Of the 318 candidates, an impressive 172 are women—reflecting the party’s strategic emphasis on promoting female political participation at the grassroots level.

The move is seen as part of the BJP's broader agenda to empower women and strengthen its presence in rural Assam.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Samaguri MLA Diplu Ranjan Sarma and BJP leader Pallab Lochan Das confirmed that the candidate list was finalised in close coordination with the party’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners.

“In line with the announcements made by the Chief Minister and our state BJP president, we will contest 318 of the 396 seats, with the remaining going to our alliance partners,” Sarma said.

Under the seat-sharing arrangement within the ruling NDA, 73 district constituencies have been allocated to BJP’s key ally, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). The AGP is expected to release its candidate list for these seats today.

Party sources indicate that the selection process is nearly complete, pending final approval from the AGP’s central leadership.

In addition, the Rabha Hasong United Front—a constituent of the NDA in Assam—will field candidates in select areas, further bolstering the alliance’s rural outreach in autonomous and tribal council regions.

The Panchayat elections in Assam will be conducted in two phases across 27 districts. The first phase, on May 2, will cover 14 districts, while the second phase, on May 7, will cover the remaining 13.

The elections will be held using traditional ballot papers, with vote counting scheduled for May 11.