Over 79 per cent polling in Bengal, 72 pc in Assam in 10 hours

As many as 7979 per cent voters exercised their franchise in ten hours of polling for 30 Assembly seats in West Bengal on Saturday while the voter turnout was around 7214 per cent in Assam in the same periodMore than half of the 73lakh electorate in Bengals 30 Assembly constituencies have cast their ballot and sealed the fate of 191 candidates who are in the fray on the first day of the eightphase elections in West Bengal where polling is underway in five districtsAt least 21 female aspirants are contesting elections in West Bengal while 23 in AssamIn Bengal the serpentine queues showed people are aware of the importance of the crucial poll that is seeing a bitter battle between the ruling Trinamool Congressled by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the BJP that has pitched every highprofile leader into campaigning in West BengalAs per the latest figures from Bengal the approximate voter turnout trend till 5 pm in Bankura was the highest at 8003 per cent Jhargram at 8055 per cent Purbo Medinipur at 8242 per cent Paschim Medinipur at 8016 per cent and Purulia at 7713 per cent according to the Election Commissions voter turnout AppData also showed 7214 per cent voting in 22 districts in Assam till 5 pm There was 7716 per cent voting in Biswanath 7110 per cent in Bokakhat 7329 per cent in Charaldeo 7285 per cent in Dhakuakhana 7076 per cent in Dhansiri 7110 per cent in Dhemaji 7014 per cent in Dibrugarh 7134 per cent in Gohpur 7516 per cent in Golaghat 7249 per cent in Jonai 7149 per cent in Jorhat 7419 per cent in Kaliabor 7043 per cent in Lakhimpur 7719 per cent in Majuli 7067 in Margherita 7820 per cent in Nagaon 64 per cent in Nazira and 7163 per cent in Sadiya The voting percentage in Sivasagar was 7772 per cent 6791 per cent in Sonitpur 7063 per cent in Tinsukia and 7092 per cent in Titabor till 5 pmIn Bengals East Midnapore two security personnel were reportedly injured in a firing incident that took place early Saturday at the Satsatmal Bhagwanpur Assembly constituency ahead of voting Tension prevailed in the Tulsidi village where the incident took place Security forces are keeping a close vigil in the area surrounded by forests that were once Maoist hideoutsThere were reports of EVM malfunctioning at 20 booths in Bankura district eight in Jhargram and 39 in Purulia EVMs in various booths had stopped working temporarily due to a technical glitch People said they had to wait for more than two hours to cast their ballotIn Purulia allegations were raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP against a former minister and Trinamool candidate of purportedly distributing cash among voters The BJP has filed a complaint with the poll bodySuvendu Adhikaris brother and BJP leader Soumendu Adhikari accused Trinamool Block President Ram Govind Das and his wife for poll rigging at three polling booths saying my arrival here created a problem for them to continue with their mischief so they attacked my car and thrashed my driverDibyendu Adhikari another of the Adhikari siblings told the media he got to know that his brothers vehicle was attacked in Contai with the help of Trinamool Block President Ram Govind Das Soumendu isnt injured The driver was beaten up Ive informed the Police ObserverThere are seven seats in highstakes Purba Medinipur home ground of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari These seven Patashpur Kanthi Uttar Bhagabanpur Khejuri Kanthi Dakshin Ramnagar and Egra are perceived as sensitivePolling began at 7 am amid tight security for the first phase when the Jungal Mahal area in the southwestern fringes that is said to be Maoistaffected also voting The polling will end at 6 pmThe polls are being closely watched because of the prestige battle between Suvendu Adhikari a former Trinamool Congress man who is now facing his erstwhile supremo Mamata Banerjee in NandigramWest Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh cast his vote at a polling booth in Jhargram during the pollingCompared to first two hours in the morning the number of voters increased manifold in the afternoon on polling booths with all section of citizens seen enthusiastically exercising their franchise Women particularly firsttime voters carrying voter slips and Aadhaar cards were seen standing in long queues Special police officers deputed for election duty helped the aged and the physically challenged voters at the polling stationsOf the five assembly elections scheduled in four states and one Union Territory West Bengal has the most number of seats and voting spread over eight phases a maximum The other seven phases to the 294member West Bengal Assembly will be held on April 1 April 6 April 10 April 17 April 22 April 26 and April 29 Results will be declared on May 2In Assam voting began across 11537 polling stations mostly covering eastern Assams 12 districts at 7 amThe balloting will continue till 6 pm as the Election Commission extended the time by an hour in view of the Covid19 induced situationsA total of 8109815 voters including 4032481 females are eligible to cast their ballotsCovid19 protocols for the voters including social distancing and thermal screening are being maintainedElection officials said that to avoid crowding the number of voters for every booth has been brought down to a maximum of 1000As a result the number of polling booths has been augmented by 3471 per cent to 33530 from 24890 in 2016To avoid direct contact with the EVM every elector is being given a hand gloveIn the 2016 elections the ruling BJPled alliance secured 35 of the 47 seats while the Congress won nine and the remaining three seats by other partiesAccording to the election officials over 30000 Central Armed Police Forces along with thousands of state security forces have been deployed to maintain law and order during this phaseThe officials said that to maintain social distancing and other Covid19 protocols and due to technical snags of the EVMs in some polling stations the casting of votes caused little slowNo untoward incident has been reported so far from any of the 12 districts where balloting is underwayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever