78.25 per cent vote in 5th phase of West Bengal poll

The fifth phase of the six-phase Assembly elections, in 53 constituencies across the districts of South 24 Parganas, Kolkata South and Hooghly, was concluded peacefully on Saturday. The average voter turnout till 5 pm was 78.25 per cent. The voter turnout in the four constituencies of Kolkata South till 5 pm was 63.10 per cent, while in South 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts till 5 pm it was 79.69 and 78.98 per cent, respectively. However, the final voter turnout will increase as voting continued till 6 pm.

Chief electoral officer (CEO) in West Bengal Sunil Gupta said there were no major incidents of violence and no vitiation of the poll process. However, the Election Commission had received a total of 2,970 complaints till 6 pm and disposed of 2,846 complaints. The number of complaints received on Saturday was less compared to the fourth phase on April 25 when the poll panel received 4,173 complaints related to booth capturing, false voting, and intimidation of voters. On Saturday, as many as 186 arrests were made and two presiding officers were removed.

“Today there was no poll boycott by people and there was no vitiation of the poll process. There was no major incident of violence and the polling was peaceful. We replaced two presiding officers — one in Tarakeshwar Assembly constituency and another in Arambagh Assembly constituency. FIRs have been lodged against both presiding officers. During poll hours we replaced 102 EVMs and 15 VVPATs,” Mr Gupta said. In a coincidence, both presiding officers given marching orders were named Tapan Kumar Ray.

Over 1.23 crore voters, including 60.07 lakh women, exercised their franchise in 16,642 polling stations in the fifth phase to decide the fate of 349 candidates, including 43 female. Among 49 seats, 31 are in South 24 Parganas, four are in Kolkata South and 18 are in Hooghly.

West Bengal ADG (law and order) Anuj Sharma said there were nine specific cases of violence during poll hours. “A total 186 arrests were made across the three districts today. Out of 186 arrests, 177 were preventive arrests. Nine persons were arrested in specific cases. Besides this, six crude bombs were recovered from the city,” Mr Sharma said.

According to the political parties, polling in the fifth phase was by and large peaceful compared to the earlier phases. The polling in four constituencies of Kolkata South was peaceful with people exercising their franchise without any fear. So far, voters in 269 of the total 294 constituencies have exercised their franchise in the first five phases. Polling for the sixth and final phase of the Bengal Assembly elections in the remaining 25 constituencies will be held on May 5.