81.17 pc voter turnout recorded in 2nd phase of polling for 5 Assam LS seats

Assam recorded 81.17 per cent voter turnout in the second phase of polling for five Lok Sabha constituencies, officials said on Saturday. The Nagaon seat registered the highest polling percentage at 84.97, followed by Darrang-Udalguri at 82.01, Karimganj at 80.48, Silchar at 79.05 and Diphu at 75.74, they said.

Altogether 77.26 lakh electors were eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase of polling held on Friday, the election officials said.

Women voters recorded a higher turnout of 85.55 per cent compared to the polling percentage of men at 84.41 and the third gender at 16.47.

Sixty-one candidates were in the fray in the second phase of polling.

In the first phase of polls held on April 19, a 78.25 per cent turnout was recorded in Kaziranga, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur Lok Sabha constituencies.

The total voter turnout in both phases was 79.63 per cent, comprising 79.34 per cent of men, 79.92 per cent of women and 18.09 per cent of those belonging to the third gender.

Assam had recorded 81.55 per cent voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to 14 seats.

The prominent candidates in the second phase of polling included state Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya and Surya Kanta Sarkar of the Congress in Silchar, BJP's Amarsing Tisso and Congress' Joyram Engleng in Diphu.

Sitting MPs Pradyut Bordoloi of Congress in Nagaon, BJP's Kripanath Malla in Karimganj and Dilip Saikia in Darrang-Udalguri are also in the fray.