77.04% turnout in Mizoram; 96.25 % in Nagaland bypoll

AIZAWL/KOHIMA: Mizoram recorded 77.04 per cent polling in the assembly elections till 5 pm of Tuesday, while over 96.25 per cent of 15,256 voters cast their votes in the bypoll to Nagaland’s Tapi Assembly constituency in Mon district amid tight security, officials said.

Mizoram went to polls for all the 40 assembly seats in the state. Several constituencies in Mizoram recorded high polling percentages. According to poll data till 5 pm, Serchhip seat reported a voter turnout of 83.96 per cent, Mamit 83.42 per cent, Hnahthial 82.62 per cent, Khawazawl 82.39 per cent and Kolasib 80.13 per cent.

The polling started at 7 am in the northeastern state and ended at 4 pm.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who is chief of Mizo National Front, is seeking re-election from Aizawl East - I. Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) chief Lalduhoma, a former IPS officer, who is also the party's chief ministerial candidate, is in the fray from Serchhip.

In the 2018 assembly elections, the Mizo National Front (MNF) secured 26 seats with a vote share of 37.8 per cent and ousted Congress from power.

The Mizo National Front, Indian National Congress and the Zoram People's Movement have fielded candidates for all 40 seats and BJP has fielded 23 candidates. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 3 in Mizoram.

In Nagaland, the polling began at 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning in 23 polling stations and it ended at 4 p.m. without any incident, election officials said.

In all 15,256 voters, including 7,468 women, were eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the electoral fate of two candidates -- Wangpang Konyak of ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and Congress candidate Wanglem Konyak.

Election officials said that all 23 polling stations were under CCTV surveillance, with seven polling stations identified as vulnerable and six as critical.

The bypoll was necessitated following the death of NDPP MLA Noke Wangnao on August 28.

The counting of votes will be taken up on December 3. (IANS/ANI)

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