Over 45% vote in Uttarakhand till 3 p.m. (3rd Lead)

Over 45 per cent voting was recorded till 3 p.m. on Thursday for Uttarakhand's five Lok Sabha seats, said an official. "Till 3 p.m., the voting percentage was around 46.59 per cent," said Saujanya, Chief Electoral Officer of Uttarakhand.

Voting began at 7 a.m. and will end at 5 p.m. A total of 78.56 lakh people are eligible to vote in the hill state where 52 candidates are in the race for the five Lok Sabha seats -- Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Almora, and Haridwar.

In many booths, long queues of voters were seen waiting to cast their votes.

"Our forces are on alert. The polling was peaceful till 3 p.m.," said Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Raturi. Over 45,000 police and other security personnel have been deployed for the election.

The administration has set up 85 inter-state and 10 international barriers with Nepal.

Of the total 11,229 polling booths in the state, 697 have been declared vulnerable and 656 critical. Most vulnerable and critical booths are in Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Dehradun districts.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is locked in a straight battle with the Congress in all the five seats.

--IANS

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