West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 16.15 per cent till 9.30 am across 45 constituencies in six districts during the fifth phase of the state assembly polls, according to the Election Commission (EC).
Voting for the fifth phase of West Bengal assembly polls began at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security.
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.
TMC leader Madan Mitra cast his vote at a polling booth in Kamarhati. Earlier on Saturday morning, Mitra offered prayers at Dakshineshwar Kali Temple in North 24 Paraganas. Mitra is a strong contender against BJP's ndya Raju Banarjee and CPI(M)'s Sayandip Mitra in the Kamarhati constituency.
"I have full authority to enter a polling booth. They (central forces) even searched my pocket in which I was carrying pictures of my goddess. This is a democratic country. I am going to meet Chief Election Commissioner," Mitra told .
West Bengal Minister and TMC candidate from Bidhannagar Sujit Bose visited the polling booth in East Calcutta Girls College in the assembly constituency. BJP has fielded Sabyasachi Dutta from the Bidhannagar constituency.
People were seen standing in queues maintaining COVID protocols at a polling booth in Bidhannagar.
The voting for the sixth phase will be held on April 22.
Meanwhile, West Bengal reported 6,910 new COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths on Friday. According to the state health bulletin, the total count of cases has reached 6,43,795. The number of active cases in the state stands at 41,047. With 26 more deaths, the toll in West Bengal has reached 10,506.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor