58 per cent cast vote in Assam

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April 26, 2004 20:20 IST

About 58 per cent of the electorate cast its votes in Assam where elections were held in seven of the state's 14 Lok Sabha constituencies and a by-election to an assembly seat in the second and last phase on April 26. Official sources said security measures were extremely tight.

 

Voting in the eighth constituency, Silchar, was postponed to May 10 due to heavy rains and floods. On April 20, the remaining six constituencies had gone to the polls.

 

The elections were held peacefully, barring some minor incidents of skirmishes between Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India supporters in the Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and Nagaon constituencies.

 

Congress and BJP activists clashed at Disangmukh area in the Lakhimpur constituency while Congress and CPI supporters clashed at Nazira in the Jorhat constituency, officials said,

 

Voting was stopped for brief period in some booths of Jorhat constituency due to malfunctioning of the electronic voting machines, the sources said.

 

The weather was hot and sunny, after a long spell of rains, forcing many people to stay indoors during the day. But many came out to exercise their franchise in the later afternoon.

 

In the fray were 57 contestants for the seven LS seats and another seven for the Moriani assembly seat.

 

The constituencies where elections were held are Karimganj, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Kaliabor, Nowgong, and the Autonomous District, which is reserved for a scheduled tribe member.

 

 

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