Kolkata: Nearly 82 per cent voter turnout was recorded in six Lok Sabha seats which went to the polls in the fourth leg of the five-phase elections in West Bengal today.
“On an average 81.28 per cent of the electors cast their votes till 6 PM in the six constituencies of Jhargram, Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura, Bishnupur and Asansol,” state Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta said. Gupta said polling has been completed in the LWE areas covering six Assembly segments of Jhargram, Binpur and Bandwan in Jhargram Lok Sabha seat and Balarampur, Baghmundi and Jaypur in Purulia constituency two hours ahead of the normal schedule at 4 PM.
Polling continued till 6 PM in rest of the constituencies, he said.
“Queues have been seen in some polling stations and polling will continue till they are cleared,” Gupta said. CPI(M) and other opposition parties alleged massive rigging and booth capturing in many parts of the constituencies, but the CEO said barring some stray incidents the election was free, fair and peaceful. “All complaints had been taken care of with timely action against each of them, but many were found baseless,” Gupta said.
Elaborate security arrangements were made for the polling in Jangalmahal with deployment of central forces in all polling stations.
