Silchar: Polling is underway for the first Silchar Municipal Corporation (SMC) election, with voters turning up at polling stations across the city amid tight security arrangements.

The election marks the first civic poll since Silchar was upgraded to a municipal corporation. The Cachar district administration, police and State Election Commission have made elaborate security arrangements to ensure peaceful polling.

Voting is being held at 312 polling stations across 40 of the 42 wards of the city. Candidates from the Congress, BJP, CPI(M), Raijor Dal and other political parties, besides independents, are in the fray.

The BJP has fielded 38 candidates for the Commissioner posts, while the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has four candidates. Around 36 Congress candidates are also contesting the election.

The BJP has mounted an intensive campaign with the objective of forming the first board of the municipal corporation. However, rebel BJP candidates who were denied party tickets, along with independent candidates, have added another dimension to the contest.

Around 2.70 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in the election. Long queues were witnessed at several polling stations from the morning, with voters turning up despite rainy weather. Enthusiasm among voters was visible across different parts of the city.

Meanwhile, BJP candidates Bijendra Prasad Singh from Ward 9 and Bhakti Sen Talukdar from Ward 20 have already been elected unopposed after their respective opponents withdrew their nominations.

The election has brought an end to a long wait for a municipal corporation poll in Silchar, with the outcome set to determine the composition of the city’s first elected municipal corporation board.