Bengal Polls: Amid Violence, Voter Turnout Reaches 37.42 Per Cent Till 11:31 Am

Amid violence between political parties in West Bengal, the voter turnout for the second phase of state Assembly polls reached 37.42 per cent till 11:31 am on Thursday. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Paschim Medinipur recorded the highest turnout among districts and Narayangarh recorded the highest turnout among constituencies.

Voting for the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly election began at 7 am on Thursday. Ahead of polling, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker was allegedly stabbed to death by unidentified miscreants on the wee hours of Thursday. A total of eight people have been arrested in connection with the incident, police informed.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers alleged that the police are not letting a fair election to take place and enabling TMC people to capture the booths. BJP's Mandal President of Debra constituency, Mohan Singh, was detained by the police, following which a ruckus ensued there.

TMC party workers also accused BJP's candidate from Debra, Bharati Ghosh of influencing the electorate by visiting the polling booths. A total of 30 Assembly constituencies from the districts of South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur are heading in to vote in the second phase.

Out of the 171 candidates in the fray, 152 are men and the remaining are women. It means only 11 per cent of the candidates are women. Among these candidates, two are undoubtedly the most prominent figures, that is, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the BJP in December last year.