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.
File FIR against Ajay Rai: EC to Varanasi authorities
New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) The Election Commission Monday asked authorities in Varanasi to file a
In the coming days in North India, people are expected to get relief from the heatwave. The weath
The Congress high command has become active late Sunday night to prevent the MLAs from rebelling
new Delhi. Research from many reputed institutions of the world has shown that where air pollutio
Snooki not joining 'The Real Housewives...'
Los Angeles, Feb 18 (IANS) Reality TV star Nicole Polizzi, popular as Snooki, will not join the
Nepal is most dangerous for planes: 19 accidents occurred in 10 years, in which 104 people died
The black box of the Tara Airlines plane that crashed in Nepal was found on Tuesday. The bodies o
Draupadi Murmu was sworn in as the 15th President of the country by Chief Justice NV Ramana. She
Nitesh Tiwari, who is known for making films like Dangal and Chhichhore, is directing a mythologi
The lethal bowling of Harry Shipley (5/31) helped New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 198 runs in the f
Uphaar fire: HC reserves order on Ansal brothers plea
New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on a plea of real estate
