GUWAHATI, April 11 - Breaking all previous records, the city reported 80 per cent turnout in the Assembly elections held today with all sections of Guwahati society, from senior citizens to first-time voters, turning up in droves at polling stations since early morning.
The Election Commission has reported 80 per cent average turnout from the four Legislative Assembly Constituencies (LACs) located in the city.
As per the Election Commission�s preliminary data, Jalukbari LAC recorded 85.26 per cent turnout at 5 pm, while the turnout at Dispur was 77.77 per cent. Turnout at Guwahati East was 73 per cent and at Guwahati West it was reported at 80.56 per cent.
However, voting continued at many polling stations even after 5 pm and officials said the final turnout, which is expected to be confirmed only late in the night, is expected to be more.
No major untoward incidents of any kind were reported in the city during today�s polling.
�Election passed off peacefully in the Kamrup Metro district. Residents and voters of the metropolitan district participated in the election process wholeheartedly with the recorded polling to the tune of 80 per cent,� said Dr M Angamuthu, District Election Officer of Kamrup Metro.
He said there was �excellent participation of women and first-time voters.�
�Voters also broke the record of urban apathy in the form of full participation,� Dr Angamuthu added.
Officials said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at four polling stations had to be replaced due to malfunctioning, but the replacements were carried out immediately and voting process was not interrupted except for a brief period.
Voting started at 7 am and continued beyond the stipulated time of 5 pm at many places as long queues were witnessed at the polling stations. Polling was especially heavy during the morning hours with turnout of around 50 per cent reported by 1 pm in the city.
Enthusiastic women, youths, first-time voters, senior citizens and people from all sections of society stood in queue for hours to exercise their franchise to elect the next government at Dispur.
Many voters, including disabled electorate, were seen waiting outside polling stations even before 7 am.
Among the prominent candidates in fray from the four constituencies are former minister and BJP strongman Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari, sitting MLA Akon Bora from Dispur, BJP leader Atul Bora from Dispur, MLA Hemanta Talukdar from Guwahati West, BJP leader Siddhartha Bhattacharya from Guwahati East, Congress candidate Bobbeeta Sharma from Guwahati East and AGP leader RN Kalita from Guwahati West.
There were 1,113 polling stations in the city and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was used in all the four constituencies.
The number of voters in the four constituencies stood at 10,00,874. Of the total, 5,07,592 were male voters and 4,93,282 were female voters.
There were 1,80,826 electors in Jalukbari LAC, 3,53,979 in Dispur LAC, 2,13,950 in Guwahati East LAC and 2,52,119 in Guwahati West LAC.
