Bengal records 77.99 pc voter turnout amid violence

Kolkata, May 25 (IANS) Amid complaints of poll-related tension and violence throughout the day, polling for the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal on Saturday recorded 77.99 per cent voter turnout till 5 p.m.

An official of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that West Bengal’s poll percentage figure is higher as compared to the national average of 57.7 per cent.

He said that the final percentage would be available on May 26 after the completion of the final tabulation.

“Going by the trend of polling, it can be well determined the polling percentage in West Bengal will cross the mark of 80 per cent mark since during the last one hour, there were long queues in front of the polling booths while in some cases polling continued even after the end the scheduled polling period,” he said.

The official said that the polling percentage was highest at Bishnupur at 81.47 per cent, followed by Tamluk at 79.79 per cent, Jhargram at 79.68 per cent, Ghatal at 78.92 per cent, Medinipur at 77.57 per cent, Bankura at 76.79 per cent, Kanthi at 75.66 per cent and finally Purulia being the lowest at 74.09 per cent.

He said that the least reports of violence have been reported from Bishnupur, which recorded the highest polling percentage while Purulia recorded the lowest percentage.

In the final and seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections on June 1, a total of nine constituencies in West Bengal will go to polls.

–IANS

src/dan