Lok Sabha elections: Assam records 35% polling till noon

The first of the nine-phase polls off the mainstream combat zone, which covers five of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam and one of two in Tripura, saw brisk voting in the two northeastern states in the first few hours on Monday, officials said.In Assam, 35% of the 64,41,634 voters exercised their franchise till noon in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam where four persons clashed with CRPF personnel demanding that they be allowed to cast their vote first in Kaliabor constituency.

Voters are expected to exercise their franchise at 8,588 polling stations in Assam.

In Tripura, 41% of the 12,46,794 voters exercised their franchise till noon, amid complaints of malfunctioning of EVMs at some places.

Election office sources said 27% voting was registered in Tezpur, 45% in Jorhat, 32% in Lakhimpur, 38% in Dibrugarh and 30% in Koliabor during the first phase of elections in the state.

Security forces were deployed in adequate number in all the polling stations and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the poll-bound areas.