Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) reported that West Bengal had recorded 62.72% voter turnout in the seven constituencies where the fifth phase of elections took place. The Arambag constituency had the highest turnout with 67.12%, which was followed by Uluberia with 66.45%, Hooghly (65.01%), Sreerampur (63.05%), Bangaon (61.83%), Howrah (58.81%), and Barrackpore with 55.34%.
By 1:15 pm, the CEO of West Bengal had recorded 1,399 complaints pertaining to the election. People in these constituencies are 63,51,320 men, 61,72,034 women, and 348 are third gender voters voting at 13,481 polling stations.
88 candidates are in the fray in this phase; the highest of 15 candidates is in Bongaon, where Minister Santanu Thakur is testing his fortunes against TMC Anandanath Das. However, elections were marred by low violence in various parts of the city, but what was notable is that violence was reported in the Barrackpore, Bongaon, and Arambagh.
In the Khanakul area of the Arambagh constituency, there was a face-off between TMC and BJP volunteers regarding the deployment of polling agents. Police officers later retrieved two working bombs in the area, increasing the fear level. BJP worker slaps TMC candidate Mitali Bag for not voting, alleges of intimidating voters. Bag alleged that BJP goons have unleashed terror in the area and threatened voters. In contrast, BJP candidate Arup Kanti Digar termed this allegation as politically motivated and alleged that the TMC was responsible for the violence during the election.
The same was repeated at the Howrah constituency. In Liluah, a TMC worker allegedly engaged in booth capturing and threw stones at BJP workers. The BJP alleged that TMC leaders are deliberately interfering in the voting process.
Still, however, there were several cases of electoral violence, such as voter bribery and disruption of polling stations, yet the overall voter turnout demonstrates high levels of electoral participation. The high share of eligible voters indicates that people are involved in the election process and are determined to use their voting rights despite difficulties.
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