Guwahati, April 15 (India): A Muslim man gave talaq (divorce) to his wife after she refused to vote for Congress and caste her vote in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam Assembly Elections 2016. A story is doing round in regional newspapers of Assam which says that a Muslim husband divorced to his wife after she defied the diktat of the village’s elders to vote for the Congress.

The strange incident took place in Donam Addahati village in Sonitpur district of Assam. The elders of the village has passed the diktat to vote for the Congress in the Assam Assembly polls. But Dilwara Begum, wife of Ainuddin, chose to break the order and voted for BJP candidate Pramod Borathakur during the first phase polling in Assam.

Ainuddin got angry when he came to know about his wife’s refusal to follow the diktat. He eventually announced his talaq to Dilwara Begum, his wife of ten years. The incident is seen as the clear evidence of polarisation of votes between Hindus and Muslims in Assam polls. Political observers think that a majority of the 34 per cent Muslim voters in Assam voted for Congress, while a large section of the State’s Hindus favoured the BJP in Assembly polls.

There has been high percentage of polling from all communities in Assam. The state witnessed the highest ever polling percentage – 84.72 per cent. Around 70 per cent voters turnout at the booth to cast their vote in the first phase held in the north-eastern state. 82.01 per cent voting was register for the Second and final phase of Assembly elections in Assam. The results will be declared on May 19.