Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa, casts his vote in Panaji
Voting has begun in seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Goa, Assam, Tripura and Sikkim, where more than 50 lakh voters will decide the fate of 74 candidates. (
India Votes 2014: full coverage)
Goa, with two seats, will witness a single phased poll where 19 candidates are in the fray for the North and South Goa constituencies, including those of the Congress, the BJP, the CPI and other regional parties and independents. (
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Prominent candidates from North Goa include Ravi Naik of the Congress, BJP's sitting MP Shripad Naik and Aam Aadmi Party's Dattaram Desai. From the South Goa seat, Congress' Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, BJP's Narendra Sawaikar and AAP's Swati Kerkar are among the prominent contenders.
South Goa's sitting MP Francisco Sardinha (Congress) has not been given a ticket this time.
Tripura is voting to elect its second representative to the Lok Sabha from the Tripura East (ST) constituency, where a multi-cornered contest will take place between the CPI(M), the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
There are 12 candidates in the fray including CPI(M)'s Jitendra Chowdhury, who is the state Industries Minister, Congress' Sachitra Debbarma, a prominent educationist, BJP's Parkshit Debbarma, an ex-armyman, and Trinamool Congress leader Bhriguram Reang. Polling for the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency was held on April 7.
In Assam, voting is underway in three constituencies. Polling for five constituencies in the state was held on April 7. The last phase of polling for the remaining six seats in the states will take place on April 24.
Today voting is being held in the Autonomous District (ST), comprising Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts, Karimganj (SC) and Silchar - the last two being in the Barak valley. The Karbi Peoples' Liberation Tigers has called an indefinite bandh in the Autonomous District since April 8, demanding a separate autonomous tribal state under Article 244(A) of the Constitution.
As many as 17 companies of security forces have been deployed in the constituency and helicopter surveillance is being conducted since yesterday to monitor movement of militants.
In Sikkim, voting is underway for the lone Lok Sabha constituency where six candidates are in the fray. Out of the total 3,62,326 voters in the state, 1,75,549 are women.