West Bengal assembly polls: Around 22% voter turnout recorded in first two hours

Nearly 22% turnout was recorded in the first two hours after polling began in 49 constituencies spread over two districts - Howrah and North 24 Parganas - bordering Kolkata in phase four of the West Bengal assembly elections on Monday.

"Till 9.00 a.m, 21.87% turnout was recorded, with 22.63% in North 24 Parganas and 20.34% in Howrah," said an Election Commission (EC) official.

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While the EC claimed the polls to be peaceful so far, the BJP and the Congress alleged false voting in some of the booths.

BJP's Roopa Ganguly contesting from Howrah North alleged false voting in one of the booths and also faced angry protests from alleged Trinamool Congress activists.

Her rival from the Trinamool Congress, retired international cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla, denied the charges and claimed polling was peaceful in the constituency.

North 24 Parganas, a part of which falls under the world's largest mangrove forests - the Sundarbans - has 33 constituencies. The remaining 16 are in Howrah.

Over 1.08 crore (1,08,16,942) voters across 12,481 polling stations, including 27 auxiliary booths, are eligible to decide the fate of 345 candidates - 40 of them female - between 7.00 a.m and 6.00 p.m.

The Election Commission has used 14,353 electronic voting machines (EVM) and 680 Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).

A total of 672 companies of central forces and 23,000 state police personnel have been deployed, in addition to other measures, to ensure free and fair polls in the two districts, considered volatile in view of their history of political clashes and poll-related disturbances in past Elections.

In the Sundarbans region, equipped with ham radio operations to solar lights, officials have gone the extra mile to ensure the electorate gets a chance to exercise their voting rights.

In the 2011 assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress - then an ally of the Congress - had bagged 43 of the 49 seats. The Congress had got two, the Left Front spearhead Communist Party of India-Marxist three and the Communist Party of India one.

The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are in fray in all the constituencies. The Left Front constituents and the Congress are contesting 46 seats, leaving one seat to Janata Dal-United, besides backing two independents.Read more about Assembly Elections in 2016.

Assembly Elections 2016

In Assam, all preparations have been put in place for the second and final phase of 

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Assembly Election 2016 as 61 seats will go to polls in this phase today.

A total of 525 candidates are in the fray in this phase and polling personnel deployed to conduct elections have reached their booths.

Additional CEO Nitin Khade said that central armed police forces have been deployed at almost all polling booths and that adequate security measures have been taken and additional forces have also been deployed as per requirement.

1617 booths have been identified as hyper sensitive in this phase and a total of 1.4 crore eligible voters can exercise their franchise.

Most of seats are likely to witness triangular fight between BJP - Asom Gana Parishad- BPF alliance, AIUDF and Congress-UPP combination.

While BJP has put candidates in 35 assemblies, its ally Asom Gana Parishad will contest in 19 seats and BPF will vie in 10 seats.

Congress and its ally UPP are contesting all 61 seats and AIUDF candidates are in the race for 47 seats.

Among the prominent candidates, Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta from Bahrampur, Congress leader Rockybul Hussein at Samaguri, BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma from Jalukbari and AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal will contest from North Salmara seat.

In West Bengal, full preparations have been made and security increased for voting today for 31 Assembly seats in Paschim Medinpur, Bankura and Burdwan districts. Polling parties have already reported reaching to the designated polling centres for booth level final arrangements of voting.

Monday's phase 1-B polling will be held in 13 constituencies of Paschim Medinipur, 9 of Burdwan and 9 in Bankura district.

Approximately, 70 lakh voters are enrolled to decide the electoral fate of 163 candidates, including 21 females.

The highest number of 10 candidates are in the fray for Chhatna seat in Bankura while the lowest, total 3, are fighting for Keshpur in Paschim Medinipur.

All the seats are mainly poised for a triangular contest between the ruling Trinamul Congress, BJP and the Left-Congress combine candidates.

BJP and TMC have put up candidates on all the 31 seats. The CPI-M candidates are contesting on 19 leaving one seat each for CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc and 8 for Congress.

Elections 2016 : Congress' ten time nonagenarian MLA and former minister Gyan Singh Sohanpal and state BJP chief Dilip Kumar Ghosh are locked on Kharagpur Sadar seat while prominent CPI-M candidate Surjya Kanta Mishra and Congress leader Manas Bhunia are trying to retain Naraingarh and Sabang seats, respectively.

Pingla, Bishnupur and Asansol Uttar are also among the key constituencies in this round of polling as three members of the outgoing Mamata cabinet are locked in three-cornered fight.

In all, 350 companies of Central security forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful, free and fair voting. State Additional CEO Dibyendu Sarkar told AIR that Central forces have been deployed at all the polling stations to ensure free and fair polling.

The local police will maintain the voters' queues outside the booths. Interstate borders along the three districts have been sealed and aerial surveillance started as parts of the constituencies, spread in Paschim Medinipur and Bankura have been categorized as very sensitive from the security angle.

Online monitoring through mobile van mounted live feeding cameras and CCTVs will be done by the Election Commission. Several model polling stations and all women poling centres have been arranged for convenience of the voters.

Amid 44 to 45 degree celsius temperature, the polling parties of Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Burdwan kept collecting the Polling material kits and EVM packages from their respective sub-divisional centres on Saturday and left for respective destinations to conduct polling today.

Members of several such parties who collected their polling kits from Christian Collegiate School in Bankura Sadar sub-division told AIR that they are carrying precautionary kits to beat the severe heat.