West Bengal: Voter turnout for phase V polls reaches 78.36 pc at 5:30 pm

The fifth phase of the high-stakes West Bengal Assembly elections recorded a voter turnout of 78.36 per cent till 5:30 pm as polling is still underway.

Out of the six districts, Jalpaiguri recorded the highest turnout with 81.71 per cent, while Purba Bardhaman and Nadia registered 81.67 per cent and 81.50 per cent respectively.

Among the 45 constituencies, Maynaguri reported the highest turnout of voters with 85.65 per cent, while the Matigara-Naxalbari constituency recorded 81.65 per cent and Barasat recorded 77.71 per cent. Bidhanagar saw 61.10 per cent of voters and Siliguri saw 74.83 per cent turnout.

A minor scuffle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters was earlier reported at Bidhannagar.

"TMC goons stopped me here at Nayapatti. They are also stopping the voters when polling is underway," BJP candidate from Bidhannagar Sabyasachi Dutta told .

On the other hand, TMC candidate Sujit Bose put the onus on BJP workers.

"Two of our people were injured in stone-pelting by BJP supporters at booth numbers 265 and 272. We have informed the election observer and police. The situation is normal now," TMC candidate from Bidhannagar Assembly constituency Sujit Bose told .

Polling is underway in a total of 45 constituencies covering the districts of Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Darjeeling and a segment of Nadia, North 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman in the fifth phase. A total of 319 candidates, including 39 women are in the fray in Phase-V.

There are 15,789 polling stations designated for this phase. The security for this phase has been beefed up with the deployment of 1,071 compes of central forces for ensuring a peaceful election.

The voting for the sixth phase will be held on April 22.

( With inputs from ANI )