Over 78 per cent voter turnout in first phase LS polls in Assam

Over 78 per cent voter turnout in first phase LS polls in Assam

Over 78 per cent of the total 86.48 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the first phase of elections to five Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam, the Election Commission (EC) said on Saturday.

According to EC data, the total voter turnout on Friday was 78.25 per cent.

A poll official said no further change in voter turnout figure is expected, even though details from six polling stations are still awaited. Additionally, she confirmed that no re-polling has been ordered for the first phase of elections.

Highest turnout was reported from Jorhat constituency with 79.89 per cent, followed by Kaziranga (79.33 per cent), Sonitpur (78.46 per cent), Dibrugarh (76.75 per cent) and Lakhimpur (76.42 per cent).

This is the first election since delimitation of constituencies in the state last year.

Boundaries of all the constituencies were re-drawn in the exercise, with Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur seats retaining the old names, while Tezpur and Kaliabor were re-christened as Sonitpur and Kaziranga respectively.

The total polling percentage in the 2019 general elections in these constituencies was 78.33, with 82.10 per cent turnout in Kaliabor, 79.36 per cent in Tezpur, 77.50 per cent in Jorhat, 77.25 per cent in Dibrugarh and 75.10 per cent in Lakhimpur, according to official data.

Polling was conducted in 10,001 polling stations from 7am to 5 pm sealing the fate of 35 candidates.

Kaziranga had the highest number of 11 candidates, followed by nine in Lakhimpur, eight in Sonitpur, four in Jorhat and three in Dibrugarh.

Prominent candidates in the fray included Union minister and BJP nominee Sarbananda Sonowal pitted against opposition candidate Lurinjyoti Gogoi in Dibrugarh, and Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi contesting against BJP's sitting MP Topon Kumar Gogoi in Jorhat.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)