Voting crosses 40 per cent mark by noon in Goa

Over 40 per cent votes were cast till noon in Goa, where long queues seen outside polling booths in morning almost disappeared due to intense heat.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was among the early voters in Goa, which has 10,60,777 electors, including 5,32,469 women, spread over its two Lok Sabha seats - North Goa and South Goa.
North Goa witnessed 44.11 per cent polling, while South Goa saw 42.74 per cent voter turnout till noon, election officials stated.
People lined up before the booths in large numbers during the first three hours of polling, which began at 7 am, but as the day progressed the queues got shorter due to excessive heat.

Parrikar exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Panaji.
North Goa Congress Candidate Ravi Naik cast his vote at a polling outlet in Ponda. BJP's South Goa nominee Narendra Sawaikar also exercised his democratic right in Ponda, while his main rival, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco of Congress, voted at Curtorim village, 40km from the capital city.

Former Congress leader Dayanand Narvekar, contesting as an Independent from North Goa, polled his vote in Mapusa town.
Besides Congress and BJP, Aam Aadmi Party and Communist Party of India (CPI), among others, are also in the fray in Goa, where women voters outnumber men.

A total of 1,624 polling booths have been set up in the coastal state. Fourteen of them have been identified as "vulnerable" and 30 as "critical" and adequate security has been provided to them to avoid any untoward incident, the officials said.
The polling will conclude at 6 pm.