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.
Aukus: France got tough and called back its ambassadors from America and Australia
France has announced that it is recalling its ambassadors to the US and Australia to hold discuss
Single Smartcard to Give workers Social Security Benefits
New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) With government rolling out the system of paying cooking gas subsidy d
SC stays proceedings against Himachal cricket body
New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) The Supreme Court has stayed criminal proceedings against the Himachal
I'm not egotistical: Australia's Maxwell
Adelaide, Feb 7 (IANS) Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has expressed his unhappiness at be
Bengal tops in executing 'Clean Ganga' schemes: Mamata
Kolkata, March 26 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed her sta
War against pollution: 'Red light on, car off' resumed, CM Kejriwal said - use public transport
In the ongoing war against pollution in the capital Delhi, 'Red Light On, Car Off' will start aga
Weekend Ka Vaar, the sixth week, is going to be very challenging for the housemates. The confront
The World Health Organization has warned member countries about the increase in respiratory disea
A woman had given betel nut to three goons to kidnap and kill her husband. The woman felt that th
Corona cases are continuing to decrease in the country. In the last 24 hours, 2 lakh 76 thousand
