Polling begins in 140 Assembly seats in Kerala
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Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Polling in all the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala commenced at 7 am on Thursday.
The voting began after completion of mock polling.
People started arriving early in the morning at the 30,495 polling stations in the state to avoid the hot weather that was likely to get worse as the day progressed.
Congress senior and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan arrived early for voting with his wife and daughter at their polling booth in Paravoor constituency.
Similarly, BJP's Vattiyoorkavu Assembly candidate R Sreelekha and Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism Suresh Gopi also showed up early for voting.
Polling was carried out amidst tight security arrangements which included deployment of over 76,000 security personnel and live monitoring of the election process by an extensive webcasting system.
Around 2.71 crore voters will decide the fate of the 883 candidates who are contesting from the 140 Assembly constituencies in the state.
The electorate comprises 1.32 crore men, 1.39 crore women and 273 transgender persons, along with over 2.42 lakh overseas voters, according to Election Commission (EC) figures.
In order to handle such a huge electoral exercise, the EC has deployed 1.42 lakh trained personnel.
The voters will also decide whether the LDF should secure a consecutive third term or if the UDF or NDA present viable alternatives.
The election campaign, which lasted nearly a month, witnessed intense political exchanges and high-decibel rhetoric, with all three fronts engaging in sharp attacks and counter-attacks.
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Assam records nearly 18 pc voter turnout in first two hours of assembly polls
Guwahati (PTI): A voter turnout of 17.87 per cent was recorded in the first two hours of the assembly elections in Assam, where the BJP-led NDA is seeking a third consecutive term in power, while the Congress is striving to reclaim a state it lost a decade ago.
Polling began at 7 am for the 126-member assembly, and 17.87 per cent of the state's 2.5 crore voters exercised their franchise till 9 am, officials said.
A total of 722 candidates are in the fray for the elections, which is largely witnessing a direct contest between the BJP-led ruling coalition and the opposition bloc helmed by the Congress.
The river island of Majuli recorded the highest turnout in the first two hours at 20.03 per cent, while Tamulpur in the Bodoland Territorial Region witnessed the lowest at 15.32 per cent.
Voters began queuing outside polling booths since early morning, despite rain in many parts of the state.
Prominent candidates who have cast their votes so far include Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia in Nazira, Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi in Khowang, and BJP's Pradyut Bordoloi.
Votes are being cast at 31,490 polling stations across the 35 districts of the state, with polling concluding at 5 pm.
Among the heavyweight candidates whose fates would be decided in this election are Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi.
The Congress has fielded the highest number of candidates at 99, followed by the BJP with 90. The AIUDF has 30 candidates, while NDA constituents Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) are contesting 26 and 11 seats, respectively.
In the opposition bloc, Raijor Dal is contesting 13 seats, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) 10, CPI(M) 3 and APHLC 2. Other parties in the fray include AAP (18), UPPL (18), TMC (22), JMM (16), besides 258 Independents.
Algapur-Katlicherra and Karimganj South have the highest number of candidates at 15 each, while nine constituencies -- Rangia, Jagiroad (SC), Hojai, Naduar, Jonai (ST), Doomdooma, Mahmora, Teok and Lakhipur -- have only two candidates each.
