Zee Media Bureau/Ritesh K Srivastava
7:15 pm: Polling ends in Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal
Nagaland registered 81.47 per cent polling, Manipur 80 per cent, Meghalaya 71 per cent and Arunachal Pradesh 55 per cent, according to election office sources.
Congress candidate in Konsa (W) Assembly constituency in troubled Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh was kidnapped by suspected militants, but was released unharmed later.
Polling was not held in a disputed area in Longleng district of Nagaland bordering Assam.
55 percent votes cast in Arunachal
About 55 percent votes were cast today for the two Lok Sabha seats and 49 out of the 60 assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh, where the simultaneous polling was held peacefully, PTI reported. The vote percentage will go up as reports from interior districts are yet to be received, Election Commission sources said.
4:00 pm: 53% polling in Meghalaya till 3 pm
53 percent polling was recorded in Meghalaya on Wednesday till 3 pm and is expected to be around 65 percent by 5 pm.
"Around 53 percent of the 15,67,241 electors voted till 3 p.m. in Shillong and Tura," State Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik told IANS.
3.05 pm: 60% polling in Nagaland, 50% in Manipur till 2 pm
Clear weather encouraged enthusiastic voters in Nagaland`s lone Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday, with more than 60 percent of the ballots cast till 2 pm, an official said.
"There are some reports of electronic voting machines malfunctioning. However, engineers immediately either set right or replaced the EVMs and voting is taking place as usual," the official said.
Meanwhile, over 50 percent voters cast their ballot till 2 pm in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency, as polling was held for one of the two seats in the northeastern state, officials said.
Police and Election Commission officials said balloting took place peacefully in 1,406 polling stations in the tribal reserved constituency with no untoward incidents reported so far.
"Over 50 percent voters have so far cast their votes in Outer Manipur. No reports of any untoward incidents so far," a poll panel official told reporters.
2.30 pm: Moderate to brisk polling in four NE states
Moderate to brisk polling was reported from four North Eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur for six Lok Sabha constituencies till 1 pm on Wednesday.
There was 25 percent polling in Arunachal, 39 percent in Meghalaya, 38.98 percent in Nagaland and 40 percent in Manipur.
1.30 pm: Insurgents attack polling station in Meghalaya
Around 39% polling was recorded for the two Lok Sabha seats in Meghalaya till 1 pm, even as firing of blanks was reported near a polling centre and wild elephants disrupted officials from visiting two polling booths in the state.
"Around 39 percent of the 15,67,241 electors voted till 1 pm in Shillong and Tura," State Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik said, adding that the turnout is expected to increase as the day progresses.
Meanwhile, suspected insurgents fired blanks near the Tolegre polling booth in South Garo Hills district under Tura parliamentary constituency.
12.30 pm: 35% votes polled in Mizoram till noon
More than 35 percent votes had been cast till noon in the lone Lok Sabha constituency in Nagaland, an Election Commission official confirmed.
The official said that little over 35 percent of the electorate had cast their votes till 12 pm. No untoward incident was reported from the state, which borders Myanmar.
"There are some reports of EVMs (electronic voting machines) malfunctioning. However, the engineers immediately either set right or replaced the EVMs and voting is taking place as usual," the official said.
12.05 am: 40% votes cast in Manipur till noon
About forty percent of 9 lakh voters have already cast their votes in the the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency till afternoon, electoral officials said.
People dressed in traditional attires were seen in queues before polling booths in all the five hill districts of Ukhrul, Senapati, Chandel, Tamenglong and Churachandpur, where central security forces have been deployed in strength.
11.45 am: 16 malfunctioning EVMs replaced in Arunachal
As many as 16 Electronic Voting Machines were replaced after they developed technical snags during voting for the two Lok Sabha seats and 49 out of 60 Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh.
State Chief Electoral officer Chandra Bhusan Kumar said polling process halted for a brief period after three EVMs developed technical snag in three booths at Naharlagun, while 13 EVMs were found defective during mock polling (6 am to 7 am) before formal voting begun.
11.35 am: Moderate polling in Northeast
Moderate polling was recorded in four northeaster states – Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal and Manipur – as simultaneous polling in the second phase of Lok Sabha and assembly elections began here on Wednesday.
An estimated 20.9 percent of the electorate cast their votes in the first three hours of polling for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland. Around 20.9 per cent of the total 11,77,572 voters have turned up to cast their vote in the first three hours.
Meanwhile in Meghalaya, 10 percent of the voters exercised their franchise till 9 am for the two Lok Sabha constituencies here. Defying a 12-hour bandh called by a banned separatist group in the Khasi Jaintia Hills region, voters turned out more in urban areas compared to rural areas, Chief Electoral Officer P Naik said.
11.05 am: 11% polling till 10 am in Arunachal
An estimated eleven percent electorate cast their votes till 10 am for the two Lok Sabha seats and 49 out of 60 Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh, polling for which began this morning.
10.05 am: Polling yet to begin in disputed Nagaland vilage
Polling is yet to begin in a disputed area under Longleng district of Nagaland bordering Assam where security forces have prohibited entry of polling officials and setting up of a polling station, PTI reported.
Longleng Superintendent of Police James said tension was prevailing along the border area between Yanglok and Ladaigarh villages after Assam Police along with CRPF personnel prohibited the entry of polling officials and setting up the Ladaigarh Polling Station (PS) No. 1 under 49 Tamlu Assembly Constituency in the district.
7.45 am: Peaceful polling underway in Meghalaya
Polling for two Lok Sabha seats in Meghalaya began on a peaceful note this morning amid tight security. Congress, BJP, former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma`s National Peoples Party, regional party United Democratic Party (UDP) and independents supported by small regional parties will fight it out in a multi-cornered contest in Shillong and Tura seats.
Security has been tightened in Khasi Jaintia Hills region following a 12-hr bandh called by banned HNLC since 5 am today. Additional forces have been deployed and the BSF has closed the 443 km-long Indo-Bangla international border.
7.35 am: Governor casts vote
Governor KK Paul cast his vote at a polling booth.
7.35 am: Simultaneous LS, assembly polls begin in Arunachal
Simultaneous polls for two Lok Sabha and 49 of the 60 assembly seats of Arunachal Pradesh began on a peaceful note. Congress, BJP, NCP, Peoples Party of Arunachal besides independents are in the fray in the Western and Eastern parliamentary constituencies, which are traditional Congress strongholds since 1975 except in 2004 polls when BJP made its dent for the first time.
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering of Congress is pitted against BJP nominee Tarir Gao and PPA`S Wangman Lowangcha in the Eastern Parliamentary seat. In the Western seat Congress MP nominee and sitting MP Takam Sanjoy has locked horns with BJP`s Kiren Rijiju in a multi-cornered contest which has eight candidates.
7.30 am: Polling for lone LS seat begins in Nagaland
Polling has begun for the lone parliamentary seat in Nagaland in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections. 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` KV 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, PTI reported.
7.20 am: Polling begins in Manipur
Polling began for the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, one of the two parliamentary constituencies in the state. 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, reported PTI.
7 am: Polling begins for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls
Six constituencies spread across four Northeastern states go to poll on Wednesday in the round two of the nine-phase of 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Elections to the single Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram was postponed to April 11 following a state-wide bandh called against exercise of franchise by Bru voters lodged in Tripura camps through postal ballots.
Voting will be held in one seat each in Nagaland and Manipur and two seats each in Arunchal Pradesh and Meghalaya. In Arunachal Pradesh, simultaneous elections will be held for 49 of the 60 Assembly seats.
Nagaland`s lone Parliamentary seat will see only three candidates - Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio (NPF), Congress` KV Pusa and Akheu Achumi of Socialist Party (India) in the race. An electorate of 11,79,881 will be eligible to cast their votes.
Elections will be held in Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, one of the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Manipur.Among the 10 contestants are nominees of BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, Naga People`s Front, NCP, JD(U) and Aam Admi Party. Three independents are also in the fray.
Prominent candidates are sitting Congress MP Thangso Baite, Gangmumei Kamei (BJP), C. Doungel (NCP), Kim Gangte (Trinamool Congress), Soso Lorho (Naga People`s Front), L Gangte (JD-U) and MK Zou (AAP).
Out of total electorate of 9,11,699, 4,63,068 are women. There are 511 polling booths. Polling for the second seat in the state, Inner Manipur constituency will be held on April 17.
In Arunachal Pradesh, Western and Eastern parliamentary constituencies will witness a multi-cornered contest among Congress, BJP, NCP, PPA and independents.
Among the eight candidates in the Western seat are Congress nominee and sitting MP Takam Sanjoy locking horns with former MP Kiren Rijiju, a BJP nominee. In the Eastern Arunachal Parliamentary seat, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering of Congress is contesting against BJP nominee Tapir Gao and Wangman Lowangcha on a People`s Party of Arunachal ticket.
Both the Lok Sabha seats have been won by Congress since 1975, but for 2004 when it was won by BJP for the first time. In Meghalaya, elections will be held for two Lok Sabha seats which will decide the fate of 10 candidates, including NPP chief P A Sangma, sitting Congress MP Vincent Pala, former student leader Paul Lyngdoh and church leader P B M Basaiawmoit.
The Shillong seat will witness a multi-corner contest among the ruling Congress, the United Democratic Party and an independent candidate supported by two smaller regional parties while the ruling Congress will contest against the P A Sangma-led National People`s Party for the Tura seat.
P A Sangma held the Tura seat eight out of 10 times while the Congress won the Shillong seat seven times between 1977 and 2009. Since 1996, the Congress candidate has consistently won the Shillong seat.
Of the electorate of 15,53,028, women voters numbering 13,512 are in the majority.
The Election Commission deferred the polling date for election to the lone Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram and by-poll to Hrangturzo Assembly seat to April 11 from April 9 in view of a state-wide bandh called against exercise of franchise by Bru voters lodged in Tripura camps through postal ballots.
The EC decision followed the 72-hour state-wide bandh called by the Joint NGO Coordination yesterday in protest against the exercise of franchise by Bru voters in six relief camps in Tripura on April one to April three, through postal ballots.
However, the outfit called off its bandh on Tuesday afternoon, saying the Election Commission and the state government have agreed to its demands.
In the first round of voting on Monday, a high turnout of 85 per cent was recorded for one Lok Sabha seat in Tripura, while Assam registered 76 per cent in five seats.
With Agency Inputs
