LIVE-LS Polls 2014 : Around 72 pc polling in Assam while Tripura witnesses over 83 pc voting

Guwahati: An estimated 72 per cent of the 64.4 lakh voters exercised their franchise peacefully in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam sealing the electoral fate of 51 contestants, including two union ministers in the first phase.Election office sources said that the exact percentage would be available at night as thousands of people were still standing in queues when voting ended at 5 pm. Over 83 percent of the 1.2 million electorate Monday cast their ballot as polling was held in one of the two Lok Sabha constituencies in the Left-ruled Tripura, an official said."Around 83 percent of 12.46 lakh voters cast their votes when the last reports were received here at 5 p.m. The polling percentage may increase after the final reports come here from all four districts," said Tripura Chief Electoral Officer Ashutosh Jindal. In Assam, Tezpur recorded 73 per cent voting, Jorhat 75 per cent, Lakhimpur 67, Dibrugarh 70 and Koliabor 72 per cent, the sources said.Prominent contestants whose fates were sealed in EVMS were union ministers and Congress nominees Paban Singh Ghatowar (Dibrugarh) and Ranee Narah (Lakhimpur), besides former union minister and sitting Congress MP Bijoy Krishna Handique (Jorhat).Others were Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's son Gaurav Gogoi (Koliabor), Congress rebel and Independent candidate Moni Kumar Subba and BJP state unit president Sabananda Sonowal (Lakhimpur).Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, his wife Dolly Gogoi and their son and Koliabor constituency Congress candidate Gaurav Gogoi cast their votes in Jorhat. New voters in the 18-19 age group from among the first-time 6.5 lakh electorate came out in large numbers to choose their representatives.An upbeat chief minister expressed confidence of the Congress sweeping the polls in the state winning more than ten of the 14 seats.“There is no Modi magic, but Tarun Gogoi magic in Assam. Earlier, I had said we will win ten seats, but now I am sure the Congress will get more than that, he told reporters after casting his vote claimed, In the last 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had won seven of the 14 seats, its alliance partner BPF one, BJP four and AIUDF one.Reports were received about over 50 EVMs malfunctioning, but they were replaced and voting continued uninterrupted.Four persons, including a woman, demanding to cast their vote early at a voting centre in Sarupathar Silonijan area of Kaliabor constituency, received minor injuries in a fracas with CRPF personnel, police sources said. The state election office web cast the election process at each of the polling stations. For the first time in the northeast region, all polling booths in the state were declared smoking-free. The next phase of the LS polls in the state would be held on April 12 for three Lok Sabha seats of Karimganj (SC), Silchar and Autonomous District (ST).In the last Lok Sabha polls in 2009, the voter turnout was 84.45 percent and in 2004 it was 67.39 percent across Tripura.Jindal said people were still waiting in queues at many polling stations though the 10-hour-long balloting officially ended at 5 p.m.He said no major complaint of wrongdoing was received from any political parties."Dressed in colourful attires, people were seen standing in long queues at most of the 1,605 polling stations as soon as voting began at 7 a.m. Clear sky with excellent weather encouraged voters to come to the polling booths early," Jindal added."First-time voters and women were enthusiastic after casting their vote," the official said, quoting reports from the districts."In some booths, due to technical snags in electronic voting machines (EVMs), voting was delayed for a while, but engineers either replaced or rectified the EVMs at once and balloting started as usual," he said.Polling in the tribal reserved Tripura East constituency will be held April 12.In 2009, CPI-M's Khagen Das defeated Sudip Roy Barman of the Congress.This time, CPI-M's trade union leader Sankar Prasad Datta, Congress's Arunoday Saha, BJP state president Sudhindra Chandra Dasgupta, Trinamool Congress's state chief Ratan Chakraborty, Tripura Pragatishil Gramin Congress president Subal Bhowmik, and Aam Aadmi Party's Salil Saha are among the aspirants.The Left has won from West Tripura 11 times since the first Lok Sabha elections of 1952 and the Congress four times.The ruling CPI-M this time dropped both its sitting members - Das and Bajuban Reang (Tripura East). Reang has won the seat a record seven times since 1980.The CPI-M is focusing on the development work it has done in Tripura, while attacking the Congress-led union government for poor governance, price-rise and corruption in the country.The opposition is focussing on the Left's misgovernance, unemployment and rising crimes against women.Meanwhile, a delegation of Congress leaders including Ahmed Patel, Motilal Bora and Digvijay Singh is expected to call upon the election Commission to demand probe into the reported malfunctioning of EVMs at some of the polling booths that went to polls today.Here we are giving you live updates:5pm - Around 72 pc polling in Assam while Tripura witnesses over 83 pc voting.Polling status till 3 pm: Heavy polling in Assam: Koliabor 56% Tezpur 56% Lakhimpur 65% Jorhat 59% Dibrugarh 59% Voting Status Till 1:00Pm - Koliabor-42% Tezpur-44% Lakhimpur-41% Jorhat-55% Dibrugarh-48% 7: 30 am : Polling begins for 5 seats in Assam: Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Kaliabor, Jorhat and Dibrugarh.Also, polling starts in Tripura for west Tripura constituency.