BackVoter turnout for phase 3 in West Bengal polls hits 79.22%
62 constituencies that went to polls on Thursday included 22 in Murshidabad, 17 in Nadia, 16 in Burdwan districts and seven in north Kolkata
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New Delhi: The third and the largest phase of polling in the six-phase West Bengal assembly elections recorded a turnout of 79.22% on Thursday.
The 62 constituencies that went to polls on Thursday included 22 in Murshidabad, 17 in Nadia, 16 in Burdwan districts and seven in north Kolkata.
The turnout for the same set of constituencies in 2011 assembly elections was 84.83%, the Election Commission (EC) said. It was 81.6% in the 2014 general elections.
Thursday’s polling was, however, marred by violence. A supporter of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM was killed, and four others were injured. In another incident, a government official on election duty, who was managing the queue at a booth in Burdwan district, died apparently of sunstroke.
Parts of West Bengal such as Burdwan district is facing a heat wave. Asansol town recorded a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius during the day, according to a news report by Press Trust of India. In this phase, a total of more than 13.7 million people, including more than 6.5 million women, were eligible to vote and decide the fate of 418 candidates, including 34 women, according to data released by the EC.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) lauded the EC for ensuring a large turnout for voting on Thursday. “EC has done a good job in ensuring that so many people could vote," TMC vice-president Mukul Roy said. CPM leader Md. Salim alleged that the ground was slipping fast from under the ruling TMC and that was why it was resorting to widespread violence.
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