West Bengal poll phase records 61.11 per cent turnout till 1 p.m.

The second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections recorded a 61.11 per cent voter turnout till 1 p.m. Allegations of threats, violence and EVM irregularities surfaced in some areas, while central forces maintained strict vigil across polling booths in the state

Kolkata: The polling percentage in the first six hours till 1 p.m. on Wednesday in the second phase of West Bengal Assembly elections for 142 constituencies has been recorded at 61.11.

This is slightly lower than the 62.18 per cent recorded in the first six hours of April 23 voting in the first phase in 152 Assembly constituencies.

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In district-wise voting, till 1 p.m., East Burdwan district recorded the highest polling percentage at 66.80, followed by Hooghly district at 64.57, Nadia at 61.41, Howrah at 60.68, the electoral district of Kolkata (Uttar) at 60.18, North 24 Parganas at 59.20, South 24 Parganas at 58.58, and the electoral district of Kolkata (Dakshin) at 57.73.

Incidentally, this polling percentage is substantially higher than the average percentage of 45.10 recorded in the same period in the seven-phase 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Although there have been reports of poll-related violence and disruption from certain pockets since morning, no reports of casualties or major injuries, or large-scale voter intimidation have been reported. This is being largely attributed to the alert monitoring by the central forces under the strict surveillance of 142 general observers and 95 police observers, up from 84 in the first phase of polls this time.

In the last two hours, allegations were made against Trinamool Congress for threatening villagers in Dakshin Basulnath village under Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district. The villagers allege that they were threatened by the ruling party activists either to vote in favour of the ruling party or not to vote at all.

A huge contingent of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), under the command of an Inspector General-rank officer, reached the spot and escorted the voters to the polling booth.

Falta already came into the limelight on Wednesday, after it was noticed that in a booth, the EVM button beside the name of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate was covered with white tape. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has already ordered a probe into the matter.