Kolkata: In the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal that voted in the fifth phase, a voter turnout of about 73 per cent was recorded till 5 pm on Monday.
As many as 88 candidates, including 14 women are in the fray for the fifth phase polls in Bengal.
Arambag (in Hooghly) saw polling of 76.90 per cent — the highest among the seven Parliamentary constituencies (PCs) that went to polls.
Bongaon witnessed 75.53 per cent voting, Uluberia 74.50 and Hooghly 74.17.
The other three constituencies witnessed a traditional picture of urban apathy when it comes to casting franchise and registered a lesser percentage of voting with Barrackpore and Howrah both having 68.84 while Sreerampore saw 71.18 per cent voting. A major part of these three constituencies are urban areas.
Barring a few stray incidents, polling concluded peacefully.
State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Aariz Aftab told reporters that 90 persons were arrested for maintaining the law and order situation during elections, including 47 from Hooghly, 35 from Howrah, 7 from Bongaon and one from Barrackpore.
The EC had made elaborate security arrangements through the deployment of over 60,000 Central Forces (613 companies) and 25,590 state forces.
The total number of polling personnel who were involved in Monday’s polls was 64709 while the total micro observers was 967.