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.
The Central Government has made a big announcement to give relief to the farmers. After the cabin
The countdown for the launch of the Indian space agency ISRO's Sun Mission Aditya L1 has begun. I
On Friday, PM Modi inaugurated the Global Investor Summit-2023 in Lucknow. During this, he mentio
Defense Parliamentary Committee Meeting: There was a big uproar in the meeting of the Parliamenta
Comedian Kapil Sharma to be brand ambassador for Delhi poll
New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) Well-known comedian Kapil Sharma is being roped in by the Delhi elect
Ground Apple - A crop that can boost Himachal's Economy
Rekong Peo (Himachal Pradesh), Jan 25 (IANS) It looks like a sweet potato but tastes like a swee
The Indian team recently defeated England 3-0 in the three-match ODI series. Now Team India's eye
Tabla player Zakir Hussain died in a hospital in San Francisco, his family has confirmed the news
Mumbai Police has issued a third summons to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra. He has been asked to a
Captain Amarinder Singh resigned on Friday citing humiliation in Congress. How he said that the h
