W. Bengal polls: 14 per cent vote cast in first two hours
April 18th, 2011 - 1:44 pm ICT by ANI
Kolkata, Apr 18 (ANI): Fourteen per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first two hours of polling in 54 Assembly constituencies in six North Bengal districts on Monday. “In the first two hours, polling was 14 per cent. There has been no report of any untoward incident so far,” Election Commission office sources said.
The voting, which started at 7 a.m. will continue till 5 p.m.
Voting is taking place in six North Bengal districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North Dinjapur, South Dinajpur and Malda.
Among the important political figures whose fortunes will be decided today include ten Ministers of the Left Front government, including Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya (CPI-M), PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami, Jail And Social Welfare Minister Biswanath Chowdhury (both belonging to RSP), Congress leader Debaprasad Roy and Trinamool Congress Darjeeling district president Gautam Deb.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polls. Out of 12,131 polling booths, about 1,800 have been identified as sensitive.
Inter-state and International borders along North Bengal have been sealed to prevent entry of unwanted persons. Twenty-eight general observers, nine expenditure observers and three police observers will monitor the polling.
The Left Front has been in power in West Bengal for more than three decades.
Presently, it is facing a tough challenge from opposition Trinamool Congress and its ally Congress, who have stepped up pressure by raising simmering issues such as Maoist insurgency, corruption, and unemployment, ahead of the polls.
The CPI-M is contesting 32 seats, the Communist Party of India (CPI) two, Forward Bloc 10, Revolutionary Communist Party (RSP) nine, Socialist Party one, Trinamool Congress 26, Congress 27, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) one, and Bharatiya Janata Party 49.
The state will have elections in six phases. The second phase of voting will take place on April 23, third phase on April 27, fourth phase on May 3, fifth phase on May 7 and sixth phase on May 10.
The total number of assembly constituencies in West Bengal is 294, of which 68 are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 16 for the Scheduled Tribes. (ANI)
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