Assam records over 75% polling till 7 pm in five seats; Nowgang sees highest turnout at 79.13% in phase 2 of Lok Sabha polls

Assam registered over 75 percent polling till 7 pm in phase 2 of the Lok Sabha Elections in five parliamentary constituencies of Assam held on Thursday. Polling was held in 8,992 polling booths in Karimganj (SC), Silchar, Autonmous Districts(ST), Nowgong and Mangaldoi constituencies to decide the fate of 50 candidates in fray and there has been no report of any untoward incidents so far, the EC official said. A total of 69,10,592 electorate were expected to exercise their franchise on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_6476311” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Karbi tribal members show their fingers marked with indelible ink at a polling station at Langhan in West Karbianglong district which falls in Autonomous District Lok Sabha seat. PTI[/caption] Till 3 pm, Karimganj recorded the highest polling of 63.66 per cent followed by Mangaldoi and Autonomous district —  both at 62.7 per cent, Silchar with 57.06 and Nowgong with the lowest at 56.78 per cent. However, at 7 pm, Nowgang registered highest polling percentage at 79.13 followed by Mangaldoi at 78.27 percent. Silchar was third with 73.89 percent polling whie Karmiganj recorded 72.95 percent turnout. Autonomous district recorded 70.72 percent polling. EVM glitches were reported initially from several booths in all the five constituencies but polling resumed after they were replaced, the official said. Brisk polling was reported since the beginning of poll at 7 am with women and first time voters flocking to the booths even before polling began. At the 137 polling stations which has all-women personnel voters were seen queuing up since early morning. [caption id=“attachment_6476341” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] A polling officer puts indelible ink on a voter’s finger at a polling booth in Nagaon, Assam. PTI[/caption] The 84 model polling stations wore a festive look. They were decorated with balloons and flowers and the voters were welcomed by volunteers wearing traditional dresses. Drinking water facilities, baby feeding rooms and resting place for the elderly have been also made. Many volunteers were seen escorting the elderly and people with disabilities in their wheel chairs. Among the prominent persons to exercise their franchise during the day are former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, AIUDF sitting MP Radheyshyam Biswas from Karimganj, Congress sitting MP Sushmita Dev from Silchar and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Bhubaneswar Kalita. Other prominent candidates in the fray include Biren Singh Engti from Autonomous District (ST), Radheshyam Biswas, Bhubaneswar Kalita, three BJP MLAs Rupak Sharma from Nowgong, Rajdeep Roy from Silchar and Kripanath Mallah from Karimganj and former Congress minister in the state Prodyut Bordoloi from Nowgong. Besides Dev, the two other women candidates in the fray are Nazia Yasmin Mazumdar of National Peoples’ Party in Silchar and Swarnalata Chaliha of the SUCI(C) in Mangaldoi. Among the total electorate of 69,10,592, there are 35,54,460 male, 33,55,95 women and 180 of the third gender. With inputs from PTI