First phase of Lok Sabha elections begins tomorrow

1.    First phase of Lok Sabha elections begins tomorrow

* The battle lines have been drawn for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in five seats in Assam on Monday. 
* Five constituencies in Assam — Tezpur, Kaliabor, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur — and Tripura (West) in Tripura will go to the polls on Monday.

* Campaigning has already ended in these constituencies and the candidates have mounted door-to-door contact with the electorate, seeking their votes.

* The Congress, BJP, Trinamool Congress, AIUDF, AGP, AAP, SUCI, CPI (M), AIFB and SP are contesting five seats in Tezpur, Koliabor, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur in the Congress-ruled State.

* Among the 51 candidates are Union Ministers Ranee Narah and Paban Singh Ghatowar, former Union Minister and sitting MLA Bijoy Krishna Handique, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s son Gourav Gogoi and Bhupen Kumar Bora for the Congress.

Timings for Lok Sabha voting - 7 am to 6 pm

* In order to ensure maximum voting in the Lok Sabha election beginning Monday, polling will be held for the first time from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

* The only exception will be the north-eastern region where polling will start at 7 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. However, Manipur and Nagaland will vote from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. due to security reasons.

* The Election Commission has also decided to hold voting in four Maoist affected constituencies in Jharkhand (Rajmahal, Dumka, Godda and Dhanbad) from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* The nine-phase Lok Sabha election begins Monday and will end May 12. The vote count will take place May 16.