Nearly 83 per cent poll recorded in Bengal's first phase

Nearly 83 per cent votes were cast in the first of the five-phase Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, which will determine the electoral fate of 47 candidates.
"On an average 82.52 per cent of the 60,33,310 voters cast their votes in Coochbehar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in north Bengal yesterday," state's Assistant CEO Amitjyoti Bhattacharya said here today
The final voter turnout in Coochbehar was 81.74 per cent, 83.21 per cent in Alipurduar, 84.84 per cent in Jalpaiguri and 80.20 per cent in Darjeeling.
The voter turnout was marginally higher than the last Lok Sabha election in 2009, which had witnessed 80.77 per cent on an average.

In 2009 voter turnout in Coochbehar was 83.96 per cent, 75.99 per cent in Alipuduar, 82.36 per cent in Jalpaiguri and 79.96 per cent in Darjeeling, Bhattacharya said.
To a question Bhattacharya said that there was no news about repolling order in any polling station by the EC as yet.
"The EC has already been forwarded all the reports submitted by the DEOs, ROs and observers, but we are yet receive any repoll order as yet," he said.
The Special Observer from the ECI for the state Sudhir Kumar Rakesh and state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sunil Gupta would interact tomorrow with the DEOs, ROs, SPs and Commissioners of all the districts going to poll in the second phase on April 24 to review the final arrangement,Bhattacharya said.