Nearly 82 per cent polling recorded in West Bengal

Steps were also taken against another presiding officer and a micro-observer under Domkal in Murshidabad district.

A complaint was lodged with the EC by RSP alleging only TMC candidate from Balurghat Arpita Ghosh's votes were being recorded at a booth near Itahar. The CEO said, “It was a case of malfunctioning of the EVM and we replaced it immediately. Polling began immediately after a brief halt,” the CEO said.

Some EVMs were replaced during mock polling due to malfunction in a number of booths, Gupta said.

“We have not received report of any other major incident regarding disruption of law and order or complaint of booth jamming or violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” he said.The elections would decide the fate of 78 candidates including four women.

Prominent candidates include President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit and Mamata Banerjee's bete noire, Union minister Deepa Dasmunshi.

The state's Special Observer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh described the election as a peaceful one and expressed satisfaction with the arrangements. To a question, Rakesh ruled out allegations on irregular deployment of central force.