Bengal records 84% voting in fourth phase

Phase four of the six-phase polling in West Bengal passed largely peacefully as about 84 per cent voters in Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and parts of Burdwan districts exercised their franchise on Tuesday in 63 of the total 294 constituencies of the state.

In this crucial leg, rural areas like Singur and Nandigram which changed the political scenario in favour of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after the Left front government's land acquisitions policies backfired went to polls.

While Howrah and East Midnapore had 16 constituencies each, 18 in Hooghly and 13 in the parts of Burdwan went to polls today.

According to the Election Commission, the overall voting percentage in four districts was around 84 per cent till 5.30 pm. East Midnapore recorded higest percentage of voting at 89 per cent. For Burdwan it was 87 per cent, while Hooghly and Howrah witnessed 81 per cent and 79 per cent respectively.

“However, these are provisional figures and the percentage is likely to increase,” Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Saibal Barman said, adding that, “The election was overall peaceful.”

However, he said that some polling officials were replaced in various places following allegations of partiality from different parties.“Nine EVMs were replaced after polling began due to malfunctioning,” he noted. Though there were no major incidents of violence, charges from political parties kept pouring in throughout the day.

“A CPM agent was beaten up by TMC at Nandigram. There were incidents of booth capturing also by them in Burdwan,” Left Front Chairman Biman Bose said.

There was a vote boycott in two booths of Amta in Howrah district over local issues.

The fates of heavyweights like industries minister Nirupam Sen apart from other state ministers like higher education minister Sudarshan Roychowdhury, agriculture minister Naren Dey, fire services minister Pratim Chatterjee were sealed in this phase. Three former IPS officers Rachpal Singh, Haider Aziz Sawfi and Sultan Singh fielded by TMC were also among a total of 366 candidates in the fray.

The six-phase polls to the 294-member assembly seats in West Bengal started on April 18 and will end on May 10 and first three phases saw around 85 per cent turnout. The fifth phase of polling will be held on May 7 and the sixth and last phase on May 10. The counting will be on May 13.