Guwahati, June 4 : Counting of votes began on Tuesday morning in Assam for 14 parliamentary constituencies of the state. The Election Commission (EC) has set up 58 counting centres in the state.

The process commenced at 8 a.m. with the counting of postal ballots. A total of 1,28,299 postal ballots are being counted before opening the EVM machines. The EC has deployed 5,823 government staff for the counting at 1,941 tables.

According to an official, the final results in the majority constituencies will be out by 2 p.m.

A senior government official said that 15 rounds of counting will happen for each Lok Sabha constituency which may be increased by one or two rounds if required.

Dhubri Lok Sabha seat has the highest number of voters in the state.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has contested from the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat where he was pitted against former AASU leader and united opposition candidate Lurinjyoti Gogoi. The BJP has claimed that Sonowal will win this seat with a margin of at least 3 lakh votes.

Congress deputy leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi fought elections from Assam's Jorhat seat against BJP's incumbent MP Tapan Gogoi. Poll watchers have predicted a close contest between the BJP and Congress in the Jorhat parliamentary constituency.

In 2019, the BJP won 9 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam and the party is looking to increase its tally this time. Congress had three MPs from the state in the previous Lok Sabha.

The lone MP of AIUDF, Badruddin Ajmal is looking for a fourth-term win from his party bastion Dhubri. However, as the Congress fielded its heavyweight Rakibul Hussain in Dhubri, it is anticipated that Ajmal will face a tough contest this time.

/IANS