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.
SC: Mukesh Ambani's family will get Z+ security even abroad, Supreme Court gave instructions
The Supreme Court has directed Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani a
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is presiding over the second National Conference of Chief Secretarie
MS Dhoni, RCB vs CSK IPL 2022: The 49th match of IPL 2022 is to be played between Royal Challenge
Maharashtra farmers accuse BJP over MSP, waiver of loans
Nagpur (Maharashtra), Feb 24 (IANS) Debt-hit farmers of Maharashtra's Vidarbha region have accu
Why Saudi Arabia is coming closer to India 'regardless of Pakistan'
The army chief of Saudi Arabia visited India this week. His three-day visit is being described as
Modi all the way at Ramlila Maidan (Sidelights)
New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS) From poets who sang his praises to the thousands of people who chanted
new Delhi. Today is the 46th day of lockdown in the country due to Corona epidemic. The order to
This year is going to be the best in the last five years for the salaried person in terms of sala
Due to heavy rains in Bengaluru in the past, water-logging conditions have arisen in many places
India once again raised its voice in the United Nations meeting to protect women's rights and hum
