Lok Sabha polls: Voting for second phase begins at 7 am in Assam

Guwahati: Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in Assam started at 7 am on Thursday morning. Voters in large numbers were seen standing in queue with much enthusiasm to exercise their franchise.

The five constituencies in the state that are going are to polls on Thursday are Karimganj, Silchar, Autonomous District (Diphu), Nagaon and Mangaldoi.

Altogether, 50 candidates are in the fray in the five constituencies, 14 in Karimganj, 13 in Silchar, 11 in Mangaldoi, seven in Nagaon and five in Diphu.

There are a total of 8,992 polling stations in the constituencies going to the polls, including 1,721 in Karimganj, 1,461 in Silchar, 1,174 in Diphu, 2,353 in Mangaldoi and 2,283 in Nagaon.

A total of 35,968 polling personnel have been deployed in the five constituencies along with 544 micro observers in order to enhance a smooth polling process. Altogether, 8,992 sets of EVMs and VVPATs are being used in the second phase.

Meanwhile, security arrangements have been beefed up in the five constituencies with a total of 169 companies of security personnel deployed across all polling stations.

Meanwhile, along with Assam, Phase 2 of Lok Sabha elections are also being held in Manipur inner constituency, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Union Territory Puducherry for a total 95 seats.