39 pc voting till noon in Assam
Long queues were seen outside polling booths in Assam, where an estimated 39 per cent polling had been recorded till midday on Monday in the first phase of the state elections that also marks the beginning of polls to five assemblies.
Elections are being held in 62 of 126 assembly seats in this northeast state.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, making a bid for a third successive Congress government in the state, cast his vote in his home district of Jorhat in eastern Assam.
"I am confident the Congress will make a hat-trick with people having full confidence in us. We shall get majority and form the next government," the chief minister told IANS after casting his vote in his home district of Jorhat in eastern Assam.
Gogoi is contesting from the Titabar assembly seat in Jorhat district.
An election official said voting has been going on peacefully in all the 13 districts with heavy to moderate polling recorded in the morning hours.
Voting ends at 3 p.m. in about 11,000 polling stations.
People in large numbers were queuing up in most polling booths with women and young voters attired in traditional costumes.
An estimated 8.5 million voters would decided the fate of 485 candidates in the fray for the first phase vote; of these 38 are women nominees.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have fielded 62 candidates each for the first phase, while the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has put up 51 nominees. There are 157 independent candidates in the fray for the first phase.
A total of 9.6 million voters in the second phase vote April 11 in 64 seats would decide the fate of 496 candidates. Results are due on May 13.
Besides Gogoi, among the prominent candidates whose fate would be sealed in the first phase vote are power minister Pradyut Bordoloi, state president of the BJP Ranjit Dutta and senior AGP leader Brindaban Goswami.
The multi-phased elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry end May 10 in West Bengal. This is the first major electoral exercise since the 2009 general elections.
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