LS polls: Around 60% turnout recorded in 5 seats in Assam till 3 pm

Guwahati: A total of 60.70 per cent of over 86.47 lakh voters in five Lok Sabha seats in Assam exercised their franchise till 3 pm on Friday, poll officials said.

Jorhat recorded the highest turnout of 64.84 per cent, followed by Sonitpur (60.29), Dibrugarh (60.83), Lakhimpur (59.53) and Kaziranga (58.33), they said.

Polling in the first phase of elections began at 7 am and would continue till 5 pm.

A total of 86,47,869 voters will decide the fate of 35 candidates in these five seats.

Prominent candidates include Union minister and BJP nominee Sarbananda Sonowal, who is contesting from Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat against Opposition nominee Lurinjyoti Gogoi, and Lok Sabha Deputy Leader of Opposition Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, who is contesting from Jorhat against BJP's sitting MP Topon Gogoi.

Some other important Lok Sabha candidates include BJP's Lakhimpur sitting MP Pradan Baruah, Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and MLA Ranjit Dutta.

Most of the candidates exercised their franchise within the first two hours of polling.

Kaziranga has the highest number of 11 candidates, followed by nine in Lakhimpur, eight in Sonitpur, four in Jorhat and three in Dibrugarh.