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.
Why are animals colliding with Vande Bharat train? RPF starts issuing notices to village sarpanches
Recently, the incident of an animal collision with the Vande Bharat train has alerted the Railway
Festival sales increase due to the demand for expensive appliances
Samsung's senior vice president Mohandeep Singh is well aware of how crowded the customers are on
India's PM Narendra Modi, who is engaged in a new effort to improve his relations with Southeast
Section 66A vague, nebulous, observes Supreme Court
New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) The Supreme Court, which on Tuesday struck down Section 66 A of the
The excitement for Lok Sabha elections is at its peak in the country. Be it BJP or Congress, ever
Legal action against 350 for Bengal blast: EC
Kolkata, April 23 (IANS) Legal action has been initiated against 350 people for Monday's blast
Now, Shop for Grocery via Mobile App
New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) Are you tired of making your grocery shopping list every month, dictat
After the slowing down of the corona epidemic, schools are continuing to open in different states
The corona virus spread from China is seen all over the world. It is unfortunate that Corona case
7 firms ready for mobile manufacturing
At least 7 global and Indian companies can apply to take advantage of the Productivity Linked Inc
