SEC orders re-poll in 6 booths

The West Bengal State Election Commission ordered a re-poll in six polling booths under three municipalities on Tuesday.

The six booths where re-election will be held on Tuesday are Pujali in South 24 Parganas and Domkal in Murshidabad district and Raigunge in North Dinajpur. The re-poll would be conducted at booth numbers 11, 12 of ward 5 and 19 of ward 9 in Pujali Municipality, booth numbers 95 and 96 in ward 20 under Domkal Municipality and booth number 22 of ward 7 in Raigunge Municipality. The re-poll has been ordered as there were incidents of malfunctioning and ransacking of EVM machines. In some places, the miscreants had reportedly snatched the EVM machine from the polling station.

Since elections had taken place in six municipalities in the state on Sunday, the opposition parties had demanded re-poll in various polling booths in Pujali, Domkal and Raigunge. They alleged that miscreants removed the control panel of an EVM machine brandishing arms at polling officers.

The opposition parties have alleged intimidation of voters in Raigunge. The re-poll was ordered following huge protests by opposition parties. The final turnout in Sunday's poll stood at 75.52% with the highest polling being recorded at Pujali with 89.3%. The lowest turnout was in Darjeeling where the polling percentage remained at 59.9%. According to a source in the state election commission, the decision on re-poll in the six booths was taken on the basis of reports sent by the DMs and SPs of the districts concerned.