Guwahati, Oct 30 (PTI) An estimated 73.38 per cent of 7.96 lakh electors voted in bye-elections to five Assembly constituencies in Assam on Saturday, which remained peaceful, an official said.Polling was conducted with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols in Gossaigaon, Bhabanipur, Tamulpur, Mariani and Thowra seats. "As of now, the poll percentage has been estimated at 73.38 per cent for the five constituencies," a senior official of the Election Department said. The percentage of polling, which took place from 7 am to 5 pm, is likely to increase a bit after the final compilation on Sunday. The Bhabanipur seat recorded the highest voter turnout of 78 per cent, followed by Gossaigaon (77.37 per cent), Thowra (75.07 per cent) and Mariani (69.81 per cent) and Tamulpur (67.88 per cent), official data showed.A senior police official said no untoward incident was reported from any of the constituencies, where a tight security cover was in place.Personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed at each polling station while webcasting was done in all the 1,176 polling stations for monitoring the voting process live.Altogether 31 candidates are in the fray, of whom eight each are in Gossaigaon and Bhabanipur, six in Tamulpur, five in Thowra and four in Mariani.The five seats fell vacant due to resignations and deaths of legislators.The ruling BJP has fielded its candidates in three seats leaving the other two to alliance partner UPPL. The Congress put up nominees in all five, while its former allies, the AIUDF and the BPF, are contesting in two and one seats respectively. The prominent contestants include Rupjyoti Kurmi, Sushanta Borgohain, Phanidhar Talukdar (all BJP); Luhit Konwar and Jowel Tudu (both Congress); Jubbar Ali and Khairul Anam Khandakar (both AIUDF) and Jiron Basumatary of the UPPL.Counting will be held on November 2. The poll results, however, will not affect the composition of the government. A statement from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said EVM glitches were reported from a few polling stations in each constituency and arrangements were made immediately to rectify them.While the first voter to cast the ballot was welcome with a traditional scarf in some polling stations, senior citizens and people with disability were helped by volunteers to enter booths on wheelchairs.In the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, the EC has taken measures to ensure that all polling stations strictly follow Covid-19 protocols for the safety of voters and election officials. The facilities of thermal scanning, hand sanitiser, face masks were made available at the polling stations. Many of the polling stations were decorated with colourful balloons. They also had selfie stands, play areas for children accompanying mothers, besides resting places for elderly and PwD electors. All-women-managed and model polling stations were also set up in some constituencies, the Election Department official said. In the run-up to the election, the authorities have seized cash, liquor and drugs valued at Rs 1.71 crore from various places of the constituencies, the statement from the CEO Office said. PTI TR ESB SSG NN NN