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Karbi tribal members show their fingers marked with indelible ink at a polling station during the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, at Langhan in West Karbianglong on Thursday. (PTI)[/caption]
Guwahati, April 18 (PTI): Over 73 per cent of the 6910592 voters were cast in five Assam Lok Sabha constituencies Thursday during the second phase of polling, an election department communique said.
The communique said that 73.32 per cent votes were polled across 8,992 booths in Karimganj(SC), Silchar, Autonomous Districts(ST), Nowgong and Mangaldoi constituencies to decide the fate of 50 candidates.
"This is the initial voting percentage at 5 pm. It will increase further as people are still in the queue at the polling booths," state chief electoral officer Mukesh Chandra Sahu told PTI.
All those who had queued at the booths before 5 pm will be allowed to cast their votes, he said.
Nowgong recorded the highest polling of 75.71 per cent at 5 pm, followed by Mangaldoi and Silchar with 75.07 per cent and 71.79 per cent respectively. In Karimganj the figure was 71.41 per cent and Autonomous District witnessed the lowest voting at 69.51 per cent, the election office said.
Re-polling was conducted during the day at polling station number 165 at Dhemaji Town High School (EW), where voting took place in the first phase on August 11, due to non-erasing of the mock poll data and 69.
Sahu said there were reports of malfunctioning of EVMs during the poll from some booths and those machines were been replaced.
"As per the initial reports, around 120 VVPATS were replaced, while 20 units of control and ballot units were changed during the main polling. Some more machines were changed at the time of mock polling. These figures may go up slightly as we have not received the final numbers from the centres yet," the CEO said.
Sahu termed reports of votes going to only one particular party despite the voters pressing different buttons as "fake".
Brisk polling was reported since the beginning at 7 am with women and first time voters queueing up at the booths even before the exercise began.
Booth capturing attempt foiled in Assam's Hailakandi
A mob representing two rival political parties made an unsuccessful attempt to capture a polling booth in Hailakandi district in Assam's Barak Valley during the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.
The incident came to light after Sector Officer Manidhar Singha filed an FIR at the Hailakandi Sadar police station wherein he mentioned the presence of two political leaders in the midst of a mob.
"A mob representing two rival political forces assembled outside the polling station with an intention of booth capturing. Stones were hurled at the security personnel who had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the mob," Singha said.
The presiding officer, Basir Ahmed Barbhuiya, said polling inside the booth went on without any hiccups, as the security personnel took total control of the situation immediately.
It may be mentioned here that the Hailakandi district administration had imposed Section 144 in and around the district since Wednesday following reports that there might be disturbances during the polls.
There were 200 vulnerable and critical polling stations in the district.
Adequate deployment of police and central paramilitary forces were made to ensure peaceful polling.
"We thank the voters for coming out to vote in significant numbers. We would also like to thank the polling personnel, the Assam Police personnel and the security forces for their support to ensure smooth polling," said Keerthi Jalli, District Election Officer, Hailakandi.
Former Chief Minister of Assam, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta along with his wife, Jayashree Mahanta did not cast their vote on the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 18, 2019 in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB).
“Speaking to some reporters, Mahanta said that he did not cast his vote today as a protest against the Citizenship Bill which will bring disaster in the state. He further said that the Prime Minister is aware of the issues but still, the government is trying to implement the Bill,” TNT report said.
It may be mentioned that the former CM has been vocal about the renewed ties between Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP and he had also announced earlier that he would not campaign in Lok Sabha polls as a mark of protest.