Lok Sabha elections: Second phase voting begins for six seats in Northeast
Shillong/Kohima/Imphal: Polling for two Lok Sabha seats in Meghalaya began on a peaceful note in the second phase of the election on Wednesday.
Congress, BJP, former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma's National Peoples Party, regional party United Democratic Party (UDP) besides independents supported by small regional parties will fight it out in a multi-cornered contest in Shillong and Tura seats.
Sangma, who has won the Tura seat eight out of ten times, is pitted in a straight fight against Congress candidate Daryl Momin for the seat.
In Shillong a total eight contestants are in the fray, including the sitting Congress MP Vincent Pala, UDP candidate former student leader Paul Lyngdoh, BJP nominee Shibun Lyngdoh besides church leader P B M Basaiawmoit, who is fighting as an independnent.
Congress has won Shillong seat seven times between 1977 and 2009, with an unbroken stint in the seat since 1996.
Of the 15,53,028-strong electorate, 7,83,270 are women and outnumber men by 13,512.
There are 343 sensitive polling booths out of 2,562, of which 85 per cent are in the militant-hit Garo Hills region and classified as hyper sensitive. Polling stations along the international border with Bangladesh and inter-state border with Assam are also classified as such.
Security has been tightened in Khasi Jaintia Hills region following a 12-hr bandh called by banned HNLC since 5 am on Wednesday.
Additional forces have been deployed and the BSF has closed the 443 km-long Indo-Bangla international border.
Governor K K Paul has already cast his vote at a polling booth.
Meanwhile, polling for the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, one of the two parliamentary constituencies in the state began.
A total 10 contestants from BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, Naga People's Front, NCP, JD(U) and Aam Admi Party, besides three independents are in the fray.
The candidates whose fate will be decided today are sitting Congress MP Thangso Baite, Gangmumei Kamei (BJP), C Doungel (NCP), Kim Gangte (TMC), Soso Lorho (Naga People's Front), L Gangte (JD-U) and M K Zou (AAP).
An electorate of 9,11,699, of whom 4,63,068 are women, will cast their votes in 511 polling booths. Polling for the second seat in the state, Inner Manipur constituency (valley districts) will be held on April 17.
Simultaneously, polling also began for the lone parliamentary seat in Nagaland.
The poll will decide the fate of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who is the candidate from his Naga Peoples Front party.
He is pitted against Congress' K V Pusa and Akheu Achumi of Socialist Party (India).
This will be the first time that Nagaland would webcast poll proceedings of 84 stations out of the total 2,059 stations to maintain transparency.
Those polling stations can be viewed live through the CEO Nagaland website.
An electorate of 11,82,948, including 5,82,458 women will cast their votes during the day.
The state has 12 polling stations where vehicular access does not exist. Eleven are located in Tuensang district and one is in Mon district.
A total 1,475 polling stations have been declared as normal, 407 as vulnerable and 177 as critical. A total of 33 companies of central armed police force have been deployed for peaceful conduct of the elections.
They comprise seven companies of Mizoram Armed Police, 10 companies of Tripura State Rifles, eight companies of CRPF and eight companies of BSF.
Nagaland Armed Police, IR Battalion and around 2,200 village guards, besides five companies of central armed police force have also been deployed to ensure free and fair polls and maintain general law and order.
