Three Bengal seats record 74% turnout in peaceful polling

oting for three Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election was peaceful with a voter turnout of 73.78% as per provisional †gures at 11.30 p.m. on Friday.

Of the three constituencies that went to the polls, Balurghat recorded the highest turnout at 74.65%, followed by Raiganj at 74.88% and Darjeeling at 71.89%.

Though there were no reports of violence, in Balurghat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and State party president Sukanta Majumdar got involved in a scu”e with Trinamool Congress supporters. A BJP supporter was slapped by a Trinamool worker in the constituency.

In Raiganj, Congress candidate Ali Imran Ramz said Trinamool workers shouted ‘Joy Bangla’ slogans on seeing him.

With the second phase of polling, the fate of 47 candidates have been sealed. Among the candidates in the fray were State Minister and Trinamool leader Biplab Mitra from Balurghat, the BJP’s Raju Bista from Darjeeling and the Trinamool’s Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj.

A total of 272 companies, comprising 27,200 personnel of Central Armed Police Forces, along with 12,983 State policemen were deployed for the election.

VBJP supporter found dead

BJP supporter Dinobondhu Midya, a resident of Goramohol village at Moyna in Purba Medinipur district, was found dead. The body was recovered on Friday morning from a betel leaf factory. Midya’s family members alleged that the youth was killed by Trinamool supporters.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the death.

He said the postmortem should be conducted at a hospital run by the Union government and the whole process videographed.

The Calcutta High Court refused to accept the plea for a postmortem at a Centre-run facility saying it would indicate a complete breakdown of State-run institutions.

Senior party leader Debtanu Bhattacharya, who filed his nomination papers for the seat on Thursday, is likely to be the BJP nominee in place of Mr. Dhar. The constituency, located in south Bengal, is going to the polls on May 13.

“Due to some technical reasons, my candidature has been cancelled. I will approach the Calcutta High Court after consulting my party leaders. I think the reasons cited are baseless,” Mr. Dhar said.

PTI Debasish Dhar was the Superintendent of Police, Cooch Behar, during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls. Two former J&K Chief Ministers, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, on Friday opposed any move to defer polls for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, a day after the Election Commission considered the representations made by a group of parties, including the BJP, for postponement.

PTI Of service: Security personnel assist an elderly voter at a polling station in Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal on Friday.