Nagaland bypolls, over 55 % votes cast till 2 p.m

Kohima, Nov 3 (IANS) Over 55 per cent of the electorate had cast their votes till 2 p.m. for bypolls to the two assembly seats in Nagaland on Tuesday since the election authorities have taken elaborate security measures and ensured strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols, election officials said.Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Abhijit Sinha said that the bypolls are being held in Southern Angami-1 seat in Kohima district and in Pungro Kiphire constituency in Kiphire district."The polling is by and large peaceful so far. No major incident reported yet," Sinha told IANS over phone. Altogether eight candidates are in the fray -- three in Southern Angami-1 and five in Pungro-Kiphire."Adequate security forces have been deployed and Covid-19 protocols are in force for smooth conduct of the bypolls," Sinha told the media.The bypolls to Southern Angami-1 and Pungro Kiphire seats were necessitated following the deaths of the then Assembly speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu and T Torechu of the Naga People's Front respectively.A total of 13,641 voters are eligible to cast their votes in 22 polling stations in Southern Angami-1 and 29,601 electorates in 23 polling booths in Pungro Kiphire.The CEO said that as per the Election Commission guidelines, webcasting and static video recordings are being done in all the polling booths to ensure free and fair elections."Measures like as thermal screening, wearing face masks and hand gloves and sanitising to voters and demarcating polling areas to ensure social distancing have been maintained," he said.
--IANS sc/ash