The mammoth process of elections to the 16th Lok Sabha began with a high percentage of voter turnout in the first phase of five seats in Assam and one seat in Tripura on Monday.
“We expect the poll percentage to cross 75 per cent,” said Deputy Election Commissioner Alok Shukla.
Briefing on the polling in the five Assam constituencies of Tezpur, Kaliabor, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur and Tripura (West) seat in Tripura, Shukla said that till 5 pm when the polling ended, the voters were standing in long queues and polling percentage could rise.
In the 2009 general elections, the whole of Assam had recorded 69.60 per cent polling. The poll percentage then in Tripura (West) seat was 86.25 per cent.
Assam has 14 Lok Sabha seats and the next phases of polling will be held on April 12 and 24. In Assam’s five constituencies with nearly 64.50 lakh electors, 51 candidates are in the fray. Tripura (West) has 13 candidates.
Seeking to bring more transparency and ensuring free and fair elections, the Election Commission did live webcast in 20 polling stations in the first phase.
Besides Rs.1.13 crore cash seizure, the authorities in Assam have also confiscated 527 illegal arms, besides nearly a thousand rounds of ammunition.
A total of 3.7 lakh litres of liquor was also seized ahead of the polls.