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.
Political rhetoric has started from Delhi to Lucknow after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced to
All the major intelligence agencies of the world including America, Britain, and Israel were trou
Chinese conspiracy behind Delhi AIIMS server hacking: personal data and 5 servers were breached
A new revelation has come to light in the Delhi AIIMS server hacking case. The officials probing
5G Launching: 5G network is going to be launched next month, know how much the world will change
Internet: 5G service will now be available in India from October 1, the government has received a
Amid tensions over China, PM Modi will address at 4 pm, can talk on these issues
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation today (Tuesday) at 4 pm. PM Modi has address
Lovepreet Toofan, the aide of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh, has been released. After comi
Coronavirus: Corona is hiding in a new place in the body, now even RT-PCR test is not being detected
The second wave of Corona in India is wreaking havoc. The variant of Coronavirus that has led to
The dispute between Nawab Malik and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is increa
The Supreme Court has given a big decision regarding stray dogs in Delhi. The court has ordered t
Thousands of people died and hundreds were injured in the Gaza hospital attack. Everyone condemne
