Voting is scheduled to end at 5 pm
Pic/PTI
Polling for 32 assembly seats and the lone Lok Sabha constituency in Sikkim began simultaneously at 7 am on Friday.
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Voting is scheduled to end at 5 pm.
According to officials, over 7.66 per cent of the 4.64 lakh voters in 32 Assembly seats and the lone Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim have exercised their franchise till 9 am on Friday.
Over 4.64 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect their representatives in the assembly and an MP for Lok Sabha from the Himalayan state.
A total of 146 candidates, including Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, his predecessor Pawan Kumar Chamling, former footballer Bhaichung Bhutia, and Tamang's wife Krishna Kumari Rai are in the fray for 32 assembly constituencies.
Sitting Lok Sabha MP Indra Hang Subba and SDF's PD Rai are among 14 candidates in the lone Lok Sabha seat.
Tamang and Chamling are contesting from two assembly constituencies each.
Voting is underway in 573 polling stations, out of which 88 are in urban and 485 in rural areas, Sikkim Chief Electoral Officer D Anandan told PTI.
Thirteen companies of CAPF have been deployed in Sikkim, of which five companies are from ITBP and eight from SSB, he told PTI.
Meanwhile, Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
He especially called upon the young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers.
Polling began at 7 AM and will end at 6 PM. Over 16.63 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase. In the first phase, there are 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
(With inputs from PTI)