WB Polls: 55.12 pc voter turnout till 2 pm

Amid a few skirmishes, the voter turnout for the seventh and penultimate phase of the high-stakes West Bengal election reached 55.12 per cent at 2 pm on Monday.

Among the districts, Murshidabad maintained the highest turnout with 60.53 percent, while Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda registered 58.96 per cent and 58.16 per cent respectively.

Bhagabangola recorded the highest percentage of voters among all constituencies at 62.65 per cent while Rnagar and Bhowpore recorded 62.56 per cent and 41.97 per cent respectively.

Earlier during polling today, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate Agnimitra Paul on Monday accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) agents of mpulating voters by wearing a cap with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's photo on it, at a booth in her constituency during the polling for the seventh phase of the assembly elections.

"TMC polling agent was wearing a cap with Chief Minister's photo on it, at a polling booth at Baktarnagar High School in Asansol Dakshin and when we complain about it, the presiding officer says that he is unwell and did not notice it," Paul, a candidate from Asansol Dakshin constituency, told .

Meanwhile, a BJP polling agent named Sankar Sakar alleged that he was forcefully pushed out of booth number 91 by TMC members and made to leave the spot in Bakhra village of Ratua, Malda.

"TMC members, who are residents of the village, told me that they won't let me there as I'm not a voter there. They forcefully pushed me out. I was threatened by them," he told .

However, a TMC member said that Sankar was asked to leave the polling booth respectfully as he was not a voter there and that nobody threatened him.

A total of 268 candidates, including 37 women are in the fray in this phase of the West Bengal elections.

The phase will witness an intense battle in six constituencies in Dakshin Dinajpur, six in Malda, nine in Murshidabad, nine in Paschim Bardhaman and four in Kolkata, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Polling for the eighth and final phase will be held on April 29 while the counting of votes will take place on May 2.

( With inputs from ANI )