New Delhi, April 10 -- Voters across Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry turned out in massive numbers on Thursday for high-stakes assembly elections. According to the Election Commission's data at 5pm, the participation rate of Puducherry leads with 89.20%, followed closely by Assam at 85.10%, and Kerala at 77.50%. Key leaders, including Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, were among the early voters. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangaswamy also cast his vote, maintaining his long-standing tradition of riding his motorcycle to the polling booth. Voting was held for 126 seats in Assam, 140 in Kerala, and 30 in Puducherry. Votes will be counted on May 4. In Kerala, over 2.6 crore electors are eligible to decide the fate of 883 candidates across 140 constituencies. Of the 2,69,53,644 registered voters across the state, there are 1,38,27,319 women voters, and the number of male voters stands at 1,31,26,048. Officials said that there are 277 third gender voters in the state. Nearly 4,24,518 voters fall in the 18-19 age group, while 2,04,608 voters are aged 85 years and above. To facilitate safe and secure polling, a total of 30,471 polling stations have been set up. In Assam, more than 2.5 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise for the 126-member legislative assembly. There are 722 candidates in the fray. Of 2,50,54,463 electors, 1,25,31,552 are male voters and 1,25,22,593 females. There are 318 Transgender voters and 63,423 service voters. Among the electorate, 6,42,314 voters are in the age group of 18-19 years, 2,50,006 are above 80 years of age, and 2,05,085 are persons with disabilities. To strengthen the monitoring mechanism, webcasting facilities have been arranged in accordance with the Commission's directions, a release said. Webcasting has been enabled in all 31,490 polling stations, including 31,486 main polling stations and four auxiliary polling stations. A total of 1,51,132 polling personnel have been deployed for the conduct of the election. For polling purposes, 41,320 Ballot Units, 43,975 Control Units, and 43,997 VVPAT machines have been arranged, including reserves for emergency use. Additional polling personnel have also been kept in readiness, if required. In Puducherry, 10,14,070 electors are eligible to cast their votes for 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The electorate includes 5,39,125 female voters, 4,74,788 male voters, and 157 voters belonging to the third gender category. A total of 24,156 voters are in the age group of 18-19 years. Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm in both Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, where bypolls were held on Thursday.While the turnout in Bagalkot was 65.68 per cent, it was 63.04 per cent in Davanagere South. While the ruling Congress faces the challenge of retaining both seats, the BJP aims to wrest them and deliver a setback to its rival, which is currently witnessing an "internal power struggle" over leadership. The bypolls were necessitated due to the demise of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South). A total of over 2.59 lakh eligible voters are expected to cast their votes at around 319 polling stations in Bagalkot, where nine candidates are in the fray. In Davanagere South, over 2.31 lakh eligible voters are expected to vote across 284 polling stations, with 25 candidates contesting. The BJP has fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot, and a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, from Davanagere South. The Congress has given tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. Bagalkot candidate Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, while Samarth Mallikarjun from Davanagere South is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa. An estimated 79.84 per cent voter turnout was recorded as polling for the byelection to Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura ended at 5 pm on Thursday, officials said. The voting was peaceful, they said. Despite inclement weather, voters came out in large numbers in all the polling booths and exercised their democratic rights without any disturbance, officials said. "Polling for the byelection in all 55 booths began at 7 am amidst tight security. Voters were seen standing in queues in various polling centres to exercise their democratic right," Returning Officer Debjani Choudhury said. Nagaland continued to dominate the bypoll turnout charts with a commanding lead, with voter participation of 80.62%, while Tripura remains in second place with impressive numbers of its own. Tripura's Dharmanagar constituency is also witnessing strong voter enthusiasm, crossing the 50% mark with 52.76% turnout. In Nagaland, Congress' candidate T Chalukumba AO is pitted against veteran BJP leader Imkong L Imchen's son Daochier I Imchen for the Koridang seat bye-election. T Chalukumba AO had contested the 2023 Nagaland Assembly elections on a Janata Dal (United) ticket. The BJP State Council Member Imchainba Jamir had withdrawn his candidature in favour of Imchen. The Koridang (ST) seat in Nagaland became vacant after the death of veteran BJP leader Imkong L Imchen....