Lok Sabha Polls, Phase 2: Polling Peaceful In West Bengal As State Records Over 73% Voter Turnout

Lok Sabha Elections: Forty-seven candidates, including state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, were in the fray in this phase, with 51.17 lakh people eligible to exercise their franchise.

West Bengal Governor Dr C.V. Ananda Bose and his wife show their fingers marked with indelible ink after casting their vote for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls. ( Image Source :PTI )

Lok Sabha Elections: West Bengal witnessed peaceful polling in three Lok Sabha constituencies in the second phase of parliamentary elections. The state saw a voter turnout of over 73 per cent on Friday, news agency PTI reported, citing an Election Commission (EC) official. As per the official, voting for Darjeeling, Balurghat, and Raiganj constituencies started at 7 AM and continued till 6 PM, he said.

Raiganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 74.88, followed by  Balurghat at 74.65 and Darjeeling at 71.89, as per the EC data. "Today's polling was peaceful. There is no report of any untoward incident in the three parliamentary constituencies," he said, as quoted by PTI.

Forty-seven candidates, including state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, were in the fray in this phase, with 51.17 lakh people eligible to exercise their franchise. Altogether 5,298 polling stations have been set up across the three constituencies. There are 1,999 polling stations in Darjeeling, 1,730 in Raiganj, and 1,569 in Balurghat, he said.

A total of 272 companies, comprising 27,200 personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), along with 12,983 state policemen have been deployed for the polls, the official added. 

Voting came to an end in the second phase of the general elections, covering 88 constituencies across 13 states and union territories, with an overall turnout of 60.96%. During the voting hours, there were reports of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) breakdowns in Kerala, which led to delays while the Congress demanded repolling in Manipur alleging that voters were being forced to vote only for the BJP’s alliance partner.

As far as the state-wise turnout is concerned, Tripura logged the highest voting percentage while Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar recorded the lowest, as per the approximate figures released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on its turnout app. Key leaders in the fray including Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Choudhary, and Rajeev Chandrasekhar contested in the 88 constituencies.