Kolkata/Guwahati: The first phase of Assembly polls in West Bengal and Assam passed off peacefully yesterday with a high voter turnout of 80 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively. Voting in 18 of the 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal and 65 of the 126 seats in Assam was ‘by and large peaceful’ with no reports of violence-related death or injury, DEC Sandeep Saxena said in New Delhi.

A Central Force jawan checks voter identity cards at a polling booth during the first phase of West Bengal Assembly Elections in West Medinipur