LIVE updates: Voting for 15 Lok Sabha seats in Northeast begins

GUWAHATI: Voting for 15 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Northeast has begun.

The 15 Lok Sabha seats in the Northeast are among the 102 seats that went to polls on Friday (April 19) in the first phase of elections to the lower house.

The eight Northeast states collectively hold 25 Lok Sabha seats, with 15 of them went to polls on Friday (April 19).

The voting process began at 7 in the morning on Friday (April 19).

In Assam, out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, polling are conducted in five constituencies.

The five Lok Sabha seats in Assam that went to polls on Friday (April 19) in the first phase of the elections are: Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaziranga, Lakhimpur and Sonitpur.

Similarly, voting process in both Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya, one seat in Tripura, along with the lone seat in Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland are also being held on Friday (April 19).

Notable candidates contesting in the first phase include union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who is vying for the Dibrugarh seat, and Gaurav Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha from Jorhat.

Former Tripura chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Biplab Deb are among those contesting from the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat.

In Meghalaya, key candidates include former union minister and NPP leader Agatha Sangma from Tura constituency and Meghalaya Congress president Vincent Pala from Shillong seat.

Moreover, Meghalaya health minister and NPP leader Dr Ampareen Lyngdoh is contesting from Shillong Lok Sabha seat.

On the other hand, union minister and prominent BJP leader Kiren Rijiju is seeking an impressive fourth consecutive term, pitted against Congress heavyweight Nabam Tuki for the Arunachal West seat.