West Bengal polls: 52.89 per cent voter turnout till 1:30 pm in phase 4

West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 52.89 per cent till 1:30 pm across 44 constituencies in five districts during the fourth phase of the state Assembly polls, according to the Election Commission (EC).

The Mathabhanga constituency in the state has witnessed the highest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 61.30 per cent till 1.30 pm, while the Maheshtala constituency witnessed the lowest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 42.35 per cent.

Meanwhile, All India Trinamool Congress on Saturday said Central Forces opened fire twice at polling booths in Cooch Behar where people are casting their votes, killing four party workers.

Addressing a press conference, TMC leader Dola Sen said, "In block 1 of Mathabhanga (Cooch Behar) one TMC worker was killed and three were injured after Central Forces opened fire on them, in Sitalkuchi block, three TMC workers were killed and one was injured."

According to EC, Cooch Behar district has recorded 56.87 per cent polling till 1.30 pm.

This phase of the elections will witness an intense battle between 373 candidates in 44 constituencies of the state across five districts -- Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly.

ITBP personnel, deployed on election duty, at polling booths in Rishra of Hooghly district helped an elderly woman as she arrived to cast her vote for the fourth phase of West Bengal polls.

Security personnel also helped a woman voter get to a polling station in Alipurduar, as the fourth phase of Assembly elections is underway in the state.

A total of 1,15,81,022 voters will participate in this phase, out of which 2,63,016 are first-time voters. The smallest constituency is Bally with 1,76,001 electorates whereas Chunchura is the biggest constituency with 3,13,701 electorates.

As many as 15,940 polling stations will be used, including 12,361 main and 3,579 auxiliary stations.

Security has been beefed up in all 44 constituencies with a total of 900 compes of security forces deployed to ensure a peaceful election.

Out of these, 140 compes of central forces are deployed in the nine Assembly seats in Howrah, 175 for Hooghly's 19 seats, 185 for South 24 Parganas' 11 seats, 105 in Alipurduar and 188 in the nine seats of Cooch Behar.

Among the 44 constituencies, nine are in Howrah, 10 in Hooghly, 11 in South 24 Parganas, five in Alipurduar and nine in Cooch Behar.

The fifth phase of the assembly elections will commence on April 17. Counting of votes will take place on May 2.

( With inputs from ANI )