Kolkata civic polls under way

Polling for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation was under way on Saturday with over 18 percent of the electorate exercising their franchise in the first two hours, an official said.

While the opposition claimed the polls were marred with violence with its voters and polling agents being threatened and assaulted by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the ruling party has denied the allegations.

"The KMC polls have been turned in to a farce. Our voters are being threatened, polling agents have been assaulted and driven out," CPI-M leader Rabin Deb said.

TMC leader and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim, however, rubbished the allegations.

"I would urge all the people to come out and vote without any fear. The opposition is trying to create panic by shouting terror but not even a single bullet has been fired or a bomb exploded so far," Hakim said.

A total of 3,742,019 voters, including 17.52 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise across 4,704 polling stations to decide to the political fate of 1,077 candidates.

The counting is scheduled for April 28.

The electors list also includes 20 voters under the third gender category.