GUWAHATI: The BJP has continued to surge ahead of its opponents and looks all set to win the maximum number of seats in the Assam rural body polls. The counting of ballots continued for the third consecutive day and 83% of the results were declared till 5pm on Friday.State election commissioner HN Bora said the counting of ballots will be completed by Saturday.Considering the results of the last panchayat elections held in 2013, where the Congress won over 70% of the total panchayat seats, the outcome of these polls are a clear gain for BJP ahead of next year’s general elections. Congress, which is set to finish second, expressed satisfaction over their performance.Out of the total 420 seats in the zila parishads, the apex tier of the panchayati raj system, the BJP has registered victory in 181 seats, while the Congress won 122 seats. Both Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) remained third, clinching 15 seats each. On the other hand, independents have won 14 zila parishad seats.Of the 2,199 gaon panchayat president seats, results of 1,881 have been declared, with BJP getting 867 seats, followed by the Congress which won 645 seats. Significantly, independent candidates have gone ahead of the AGP and the AIUDF, by winning 150 gaon panchayat president seats. While the AGP and AIUDF registered victory in 110 and 106 seats respectively, the CPM and Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) managed to win one and two seats of gaon panchayat presidents respectively.The results of 1,860 anchalik panchayat member seats have been declared till reports last came in. Here too, the BJP is well ahead after winning in 883 seats, whereas the Congress has won 645 seats. Independents have clinched victory in 124 seats, AIUDF in 111 seats, AGP in 96 seats and CPM in one.On the other hand, out of 21,990 seats of gaon panchayat members, results of 17,677 have been declared till the time of filing of this report. The BJP continued its impressive show, by winning 7,540 seats of gaon panchayat members, though Congress was giving a tough fight by clinching victory in 5,896 seats. Independents have bagged 2,028 seats, AGP and AIUDF won in 1,372 and 755 seats respectively. BPF and CPM came victorious in 47 and 27 seats of gaon panchayat members, followed by the CPI-ML (7), CPI (3) and TMC (2).The state election commission said counting is over in 28 districts and subdivisions, apart from Cachar and Dhubri districts. Meanwhile, re-polling will be held in two more polling stations in Hailakandi and Gohpur on Saturday.

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