Guwahati, Apr 20 (PTI) Nearly 76 per cent of total 86.48 lakh electors cast their votes in the first phase of elections in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam, as per official data on Saturday.
The final polling percentage could be revised as complete compilation of figures are yet to be completed, an official said.
According to information from the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Assam, 75.95 per cent voter turnout was recorded at close of polling on Friday.
The highest turnout was reported from Jorhat constituency with 79.48 per cent, followed by Dibrugarh at 76.74 per cent, Kaziranga at 75.79 per cent, Sonitpur at 74.81 per cent and Lakhimpur at 72.64 per cent.
An official said there could be a change in the final polling percentage.
Elections are being held for the first time since delimitation of constituencies took place 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, among the seats that went to the polls on Friday.
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, as per official data.
Polling was conducted in 10,001 polling stations from 7 am to 5 pm in a peaceful manner, barring some incidents of EVM malfunction, 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.
“As per the reports, around 5.5 per cent of VVPATS were replaced, while 3.3 per cent of control units and 1.6 per cent of ballot units were changed till 5 pm. These figures may go up slightly if more machines are replaced after 5 pm,” CEO Anurag Goel had said on Friday.
Webcasting was done in 5,509 polling booths, while there were 92 model polling stations, 752 all-women personnel stations and 11 managed by People with Disabilities.
Prominent candidates in the fray included Union minister and BJP nominee Sarbananda Sonowal from Dibrugarh against opposition nominee Lurinjyoti Gogoi, and Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi from Jorhat against BJP’s sitting MP Topon Kumar Gogoi. PTI SSG RG
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