Kolkata, Apr 11: Amid reports of stray incidents of violence in some pockets, an estimated 60 per cent voters today exercised their franchise till 1 PM in 31 assembly constituencies in three districts of West Bengal in part two of the first phase of election.
Election Commission officials here said an average 60 per cent polling was recorded in Bankura, West Midnapore and Burdwan districts till 1 PM as people queued outside polling booths since morning to cast their votes.
West Midnapore recorded 65 per cent turnout, Bankura 57.6 per cent and Burdwan 56.7 per cent, officials said.
A large number of people lined up in front of the polling booths even before 7 AM when voting began to beat the sweltering heat as day temperatures are above 40 degrees C due to a heatwave.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from polling booths in Jamuria Assembly constituency in Burdwan.
A CPI(M) agent was injured after he was allegedly beaten up by Trinamool Congress workers and obstructed from entering a polling booth in Jamuria. TMC denied the allegation.
Two bags containing bombs were found near a polling booth in Jamuria by police.
Polling was disrupted for some time at a booth in Pandaveswar constituency in Burdwan district when a polling officer Parimal Bauri died of heart attack. Voting resumed after another officer took charge.
Seven EVMs were found to be malfunctioning at Barjora, two at Bankura and three at Chatna constituency before polling began in Bankura district. The EVMs were replaced quickly.
One EVM developed problem during voting at Chatna which was also replaced.
Surjya Kanta Mishra, CPI-M state secretary and sitting MLA from Narayangarh seat was among the early voters.
Repoll in two booths of Bankura and West Midnapore districts, where polling was held in the first part of the first phase poll on April 4, is also being held today.
25 per cent votes cast in first three hours in Assam, 20 per cent in WB
Kolkata, Guwahati, Apr 11: At least 25 per cent of the 1,04,35,271 electorate exercised their franchise amidst tight security during the first three hours of polling in the second and final phase of Assembly elections in Assam today.
Voters, particularly women and first time voters, stood in queues at the polling booths two hours ahead of the commencement of polling at 7 AM for the remaining 61 seats.
Ruling Congress, the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance and the AIUDF are locked in a keen battle along with other political party contestants and Independents.
There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in some polling centres which disrupted voting for some time but the election process continued uninterrupted once they were replaced, election office said.
Former two-time Chief Minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta along with his wife former MP Dr Jayashree Mahanta voted in Barhampur and AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal, who claims he will be the "king-maker" in the formation of the next government, also cast his vote.
No untoward incident has been reported so far from the constituencies where intense security arrangements have been put in place, particularly in Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) where NDFB(S) militants are active and in Goalpara Election district which recently witnessed a bomb blast incident that killed three persons.
Today's polling will decide the political fate of 525 contestants in 61 of the 126 Assam Assembly constituencies.
The first phase of polling in the state on April 4 had witnessed an 82.20 per cent voter turnout in 65 Assembly constituencies.
WEST BENGAL
Sporadic incidents of violence occurred as around 20 per cent electorate cast their vote in the initial hours during polling in 31 Assembly seats in West Bengal today.
The turnout in seats spread over three districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan districts in the second part of the first phase was was 19.95 per cent till 9 AM, election officials said.
Voting began at 7 AM with a large number of people turning up to avoid the scorching sun as day time temperatures are crossing 40 degree Celsius.
Five-time CPI-M MLA from Narayangarh and Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra was among the early voters.
Two bags containing bombs were found near booth number 35 in Jamuria by the police. In the same constituency, a CPI(M) agent was injured after he was allegedly beaten up by Trinamool Congress workers and obstructed from entering a polling booth.
Around 70 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes today. The fate of 163 candidates, including 21 women, will be decided.
Repoll in two booths of Bankura and West Midnapore districts, where polling was held in the first part of the first phase poll on April 4, is also being held today. Five more phases of polling will be held in the state till May 5.
Besides TMC and the Left-Congress alliance, the BJP, which has only one MLA in the outgoing Assembly, has also fielded candidates from all the seats in the hope of making it a triangular fight.
Poll begins amid tight security in Assam and West Bengal
Kolkata, Guwahati, Apr 11: The second and final phase of Assam Assembly elections began at 7 AM today amid tight security to decide the fate of 525 candidates in 61 of the 126 constituencies with ruling Congress, BJP-AGP-BPF alliance and AIUDF locked in a keen contest.
An electorate of 1,04,35,271, comprising 53,91,204 males, 50,44,051 females and 22 others, will exercise their franchise in 12,699 polling stations to decide the fate of 477 male and 48 female candidates in Lower and Central Assam.
More than 50,000 polling personnel have been deployed with security tightened across the constituencies, particularly those in four Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) where NDFB(S) militants are active and in Goalpara district which recently witnessed a bomb blast.
Security has been also stepped up in minority dominated constituencies. A strict vigil is being maintained along the Indo-Bangla border in Dhubri district and Indo-Bhutan border in Baksa district.
While Congress is contesting in 57 seats, AIUDF, the major opposition party in the outgoing assembly, in 47, BJP in 35 while its allies--the Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF) in 10 and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in 19. CPI(M) is contesting in nine, CPI in five, unrecognised parties in 129 and independents in 214.
Among the prominent candidates are cabinet ministers Rakibul Hussain, Chandan Sarkar and Nazrul Islam for the Congress, former two-time AGP Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta, AIUDF Chief and Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal and former Congress minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who led a dissidence against the Chief Minister before joining the BJP last year.
While Congress looks forward to retain power for the fourth successive term, BJP called for a 'parivartan' (change) and AIUDF aims to play the king-maker in the formation of the next government.
WEST BENGAL
The second part of phase one of West Bengal Assembly polls for 31 seats, where the future of top state opposition leaders is at stake, began this morning.
An alliance of Left Front and Congress have put up a tough fight against Trinamool Congress which aspires to come to power for a consecutive second term.
Altogether 163 candidates, including 21 women, are in the fray in those 31 seats of West Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan districts.
Around 70 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes between 7 AM and 6 PM.Electorate in Bankura and Burdwan districts will have a tough time fighting the scorching sun as the districts are reeling under heatwave conditions with temperatures soearing above 40 degree Celsius. Provisions for shade and drinking water have been made in many polling booths. A multi-tier security system including two helicopters, quick response teams and flying squads has also been made.
The Election Commission has not provided information about critical polling booths and also refused to specify the number of companies of security forces deployed.
The Central Armed Police Forces have been mandated the responsibility of handling situation inside the booths, while the state police forces are involved in other jobs like maintaining queues and managing crowd.
Nearly 1,500 micro-observers, 23 general observers and over 36,600 polling personnel have been deployed in this phase. Polling is being held at 8,465 polling stations amid tight security. Of the about 70 lakh voters in this phase 33.6 lakh are women and 50 belong to the third gender. Five more phases of polling will be held in the state till May 5.
Repoll in two booths of Bankura and West Midnapore districts, where polling was held in the first part of the first phase poll on April 4, is also being held today.
Besides TMC and the Left-Congress alliance, the BJP, which has only one MLA in the outgoing Assembly, has also fielded candidates from all the seats in the hope of making it a triangular fight.
Five-time CPI-M MLA from Narayangarh and Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra, senior state Congress leader Manas Bhuniya from Sabang are among the major candidates in this phase.
91-year-old Gyan Singh Sohanpal, the senior most member in the Assembly, is in the fray again from Kharagpur Sadar seat where he is pitted against BJP state president Dilip Ghosh.
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