Silchar: The long-awaited civic election in Silchar has finally entered the formal electoral phase, with the Assam State Election Commission scheduling polling for October 3, 2026, across all 42 wards of the Silchar Municipal Corporation. Votes will be counted on October 6.
The announcement on Wednesday immediately brought the Model Code of Conduct into effect within the corporation area. With the poll schedule now public, political parties and prospective candidates are expected to step up preparations, including candidate selection, nomination filing and campaign planning.
According to the election programme, candidates can submit their nomination papers until September 11. The scrutiny of nominations and publication of the list of valid candidates will take place on September 14. Candidates will have time until September 17 to withdraw from the contest, after which the final list of contestants will be released.
Voting on October 3 will take place between 7:30 am and 4 pm at 316 polling stations spread across the corporation’s 42 wards. The commission has kept October 5 as the date for a fresh poll in case voting needs to be conducted again in any location. Counting will begin at 8 am on October 6 and continue until the process is completed.
The election assumes particular importance as Silchar prepares to establish an elected municipal corporation after a prolonged period without elected civic representatives. The 42-member corporation was formally brought into operation in 2025 after the city’s civic administration was upgraded from the earlier municipal structure.
The final electoral roll published in July has put the number of eligible voters at around 2.70 lakh. The available election details list 1,29,877 male voters, 1,40,884 female voters and 11 voters in the other category.
Cachar district authorities have begun preparations for conducting the election, with officials being mobilised following the announcement. Counting of votes is scheduled to be held at the ISTT campus, according to the district administration’s preparations reported in connection with the poll.
With the election process now underway, attention will shift to the nomination stage and the final line-up of candidates. The October 3 contest will determine the councillors who will form Silchar’s elected municipal corporation and take responsibility for civic administration in one of Assam’s major urban centres.
