There was a brisk turnout in 15 polling stations in South 24 Parganas on Saturday, although incidents of supporters of Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clashing were reported in some areas of the district. The uneasy mood compelled police to increase security in some of the places to promote smooth voting.
The voter turnout was high during the repoll according to the officials. Polling in the Magrahat Paschim Assembly constituency showed that 11 booths had a turnout of 72.5% with four booths in Diamond Harbour showing a turnout of 72.36 replacing the overall turnout to approximately 72.43% by 3 pm.
The Election Commission of India ordered the repoll after the second phase of polling that was conducted earlier this week was reported to have seen electoral malpractice. Voting started at 7 am and was done in an environment that was under increased surveillance and more security officers were stationed at the sensitive booths.
During the earlier stage, there were complaints of alleged tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Officials reported that in certain cases, buttons of some parties were allegedly taped or marked, and in other cases, that some substances were used to determine which voters pressed which buttons.
BJP had vehemently called out to repolling claiming that the ruling TMC had been hindering the voters and corrupting the exercise. These accusations have been refuted by the TMC, however.
Though there were occasional tensions, the authorities insisted that the polling was ongoing with close supervision. The repoll is considered to be important in maintaining fairness in the election and returning the confidence of the voters before the final results.