Bengal polls: 78% voter turnout in 5th phase amid sporadic incidents of violence

Kolkata: Barring a few stray incidents, the fifth phase polls in Bengal spanned across 45 Assembly constituencies in six districts passed off peacefully. The overall voting percentage till 5 pm has been 78.36 per cent with Jalpaiguri registering the highest voting percentage at 81.73 followed by East Burdwan with 81.72 per cent voting.

Nadia witnessed 81.57 per cent voting while North 24-Parganas and Darjeeling had 74.83 and 74.32 per cent voting respectively. Kalimpong recorded the lowest turnout with 69.56 per cent voting. 319 candidates from different political parties are in the fray in this phase that covers all the 7 constituencies in Jalpaiguri, 5 in Darjeeling, 1 in Kalimpong, 8 in Nadia, 16 in North 24-Parganas and 8 in East Burdwan.

Among the major stray incidents associated with the fifth phase polls, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Aariz Aftab referred to the arrest of an Independent candidate of Chakdah AC in Nadia district for having a firearm in his possession. Koushik Bhowmick, the candidate, was found going around a polling booth at Baliadanga, Daspara area with a country-made gun tucked in his trousers. He dropped the firearm when the Central forces intercepted him after the locals raised a hue and cry.