Over 49 percent vote for Assam's five seats


Posted on 7th Apr 2014 07:57 pm by admin

Guwahati, April 7 (IANS) Over 49 percent of voters Monday cast their ballot in the first six hours of polling in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam, officials said.

Monday's polling kick-started the nine-phase 16th Lok Sabha polls in the country.

As balloting began from 7 a.m., people queued up at polling stations in the state's five constituencies - Tezpur, Jorhat, Kaliabor, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur. Brisk polling was seen barring a few booths where the process was delayed due to technical snags in the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The overall polling percentage in the five constituencies was 49.64 percent till 1 p.m., Assam's chief electoral officer said.

While 12 percent polling was recorded in the first two hours till 9 a.m., it went up to 36.44 percent by 11 a.m.

With 53.89 percent of polling, Tezpur recorded the highest voting so far among the five constituencies, followed by Kaliabor with 51.04 percent, Lakhimpur with 49.43 percent, Jorhat with 48.02 percent and Dibrugarh with 45.82 percent, the electoral office said.

Polling was peaceful in all the five constituencies, even as the day coincided with the 'Raising Day' of insurgent outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Although there were no direct threats by the militants this time, police and security forces were deployed in strength to ensure smooth polling.

An estimated 6.4 million people were eligible to vote Monday for the five seats, which have a total of 51 candidates in the fray.

The second phase of polling will be held April 12 in three of the state's total 14 constituencies - Silchar, Karimganj and Diphu (autonomous district).

The third phase will be held April 24 in the remaining six constituencies - Gauhati, Barpeta, Nowgong, Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Mangaldai.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's son Gourav Gogoi, outgoing Congress MP Bijoy Krishna Handique, BJP state president Sarbananda Sonowal, and union ministers Ranee Narah and Paban Singh Ghatowar are among Monday's prominent aspirants.

Did you know?Explore Trending and Topic pages for more stories like this.
98 Like 38 Dislike
Previous news Next news
Other news

'Never accepted anyone's mediation in the matter of Pakistan', Jaishankar shows the mirror to Trump

Foreign Minister Dr. S Jaishankar showed the mirror to US President Donald Trump, who is claiming

Much to go in S&T: Pranab

Kolkata, Jan 6 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said though India has achieved milesto

Gujarat Rain: The situation in Gujarat has become uncontrollable due to floods, so far 61 killed; PM Modi sent teams from the center

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to CM Bhupendra Patel over the phone amidst the deteriorating

ED gets names of leaders, police and businessmen who helped Vikas Dubey, inquiry started

The ED has started an investigation into the illegal assets of Jai Bajpai, notorious for developm

Nitish Kumar's Election as JD-U legislative party chief stayed

Patna, Feb 11 (IANS) In a set back to JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, the Patna High Court Wednesday

Weather Update Today: Heavy rain alert in UP, and the school is closed, how will the weather be in other states including Delhi?

In many states of the country, normal life has been disturbed due to the rain for the last severa

Tamil Nadu CM drops agriculture minister

Chennai, March 8 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Pann

Gujarat government didn't follow EC order on Modi: Congress

New Delhi, April 30 (IANS) The Congress Wednesday said the Gujarat government had not obeyed th

Fire in parliament reception

New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) A fire broke out at the reception area of parliament house on Sunday

Wayanad Landslide: Rescue operation continues in Wayanad for the seventh day, death toll continues to rise; 180 people missing

Wayanad Landslide There is devastation after a landslide in Wayanad, Kerala. The death toll has c

Sign up to write
Sign up now if you have flare of writing..
Login   |   Register
Follow Us
Indyaspeak @ Facebook Indyaspeak @ Twitter Indyaspeak @ Pinterest RSS



Play Free Quiz and Win Cash