WB Election 2021 Voting LIVE: Activists Of TMC, BJP Clash In Bengal's Nandigram; 3 Injured
Assam, West Bengal Election 2021, First Phase Voting Percentage LIVE Updates: Polling began at 7 am on Saturday for the 30 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal amid tight security, officials said. More than 73 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 191 candidates in these seats
Background
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma urged people to come out in large numbers and exercise their franchise as voting began in Assam and West Bengal. Voters were seen queued up in several areas amid fear of violence in some sensitive zones.
According to the Election Commission, there are 191 candidates in the fray for the 30 assembly constituencies going to polls in Phase-I in West Bengal. There are a total of 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly which will go to polls in eight phases starting tomorrow. These 30 constituencies are spread across tribal-dominated regions including Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur. Once considered the citadel of the Left, these constituencies supported TMC wholeheartedly post 2011. In the 2016 assembly polls, Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had won 27 of the 30 seats while Congress had won just two.
In phase-1, the BJP is contesting on 29 seats and its ally AJSU, one – Baghmundi seat in Purulia district. TMC is contesting on 29 seats and is supporting an independent candidate from Joypur as the nomination of the TMC candidate was rejected by the returning officer.
Activists Of BJP, TMC Clash In Nandigram, 3 Injured
A clash broke out on Saturday between activists of the BJP and the TMC in Purba Medinipur's Nandigram constituency -- which is set to go to polls on April 1 -- leaving at least three persons seriously injured, a senior police officer said.
Seikh Sufiyan, the election agent of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, however, claimed that goons hired by the BJP carried out an attack on the workers of the state's ruling party, a charge denied by the saffron camp.
West Bengal Phase 1 Polling: District-Wise Voter Turnout
West Bengal Phase 1 Polling: District-wise voter turnout:
Bankura: 68.20%
Jhargram: 72.10%
Paschim Medinipur: 69.02%
Purbo Medinipur: 72.32%
Purulia: 69.31%
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