sixth phase Polling underway at 43 constituencies as Covid cases rise, 79.09 per cent turnout till 5 pm

Stray incidences of violence reported at various parts of the state

An elderly woman being brought to a polling booth to cast her vote for the sixth phase of the Bengal Assembly elections, in Nadia on Thursday.:PTI

TT Bureau, Agencies   |   Calcutta   | 22.04.21: The sixth phase of the Assembly elections in Bengal saw 79.09 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm in 43 seats where polling is underway amid a huge surge in Covid-19 infections across the state, which has been reporting a record number of cases recently.

Around 79.09 per cent turnout was recorded till 5 pm, an EC official said.

Long queues were seen outside most of the polling booths even before the voting began.

In this phase, elections are being held in 17 seats in the North 24 Parganas district and nine seats in Nadia -- most of which have a significant presence of the Matuas, who are crucial to the electoral success of any party in the state.

Besides, elections are also being held in the nine seats in Uttar Dinajpur district and eight in Purba Bardhaman.

The 43 seats undergoing polls on Thursday had hugely contributed to the jump in the BJP's vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NDTV reported. From 10 per cent in the 2016 assembly polls, the BJP had cornered 41 per cent votes in 2019. The Trinamool Congress won 32 of 43 seats In 2016. In 2019, it led in 24 segments only, while the BJP, which did not win a single seat in 2016, led in 19 segments. 

Graphic: The Telegraph Online

The TMC alleged that two of activists were injured in firing allegedly by the central forces outside booth number 79 in Ashoknagar's Tangra area after a few party members protested against BJP candidate Tanuja Chakraborty's visit to the area.

Clashes broke out in the area between the two rival parties in which bombs were hurled, police said adding that unidentified people vandalised one vehicle carrying the central forces.

"Two of my party colleagues are injured after bullets fired by central forces personnel hit them in their legs. Both are undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital," TMC candidate Narayan Goswami alleged.

The EC, which had sought a report from the officials posted in the district, later dismissed the allegations.

"There was no incident of any firing by the central forces. We have got no such report. This is a baseless allegation," a senior EC official told PTI.

The allegations brought back memories of the fourth phase of polls held on April 10 when four persons were killed after CISF personnel opened fire in "self-defence" outside a booth in Cooch Behar district's Sitalkuchi area.

In Uttar Dinajpur's Chopra area, shots were reportedly fired after clashes broke out between activists of the TMC and the BJP over allegations of heckling by agents of a polling booth.

Both the parties denied having used any firearm and blamed the opposition for the violence.

The office of the chief electoral officer has sought a report on the incident from the local administration.

In Raiganj, sources in the TMC said one of its activists sustained serious injuries after BJP workers allegedly stabbed him. The saffron party has, however, denied the allegations.

Sporadic violence was also reported from the Bijpur constituency in North 24 Parganas, where TMC and BJP supporters clashed outside polling booths. Both the parties accused each other of trying to rig votes.

Two supporters of TMC and three of BJP were reportedly injured in the clashes and a huge contingent of security forces was rushed to the troubled areas to control the situation.

In the Halisahar area of Naihati constituency, the saffron party alleged that bombs were hurled at the residence of a local BJP leader, whose mother and younger brother are known to have suffered injuries. The TMC and the BJP traded charges against each other.

In a separate incident in the area, a TMC worker was injured after unidentified miscreants hacked him.

In the Titagarh area of Barrackpore constituency, clashes broke out between the TMC and the BJP supporters, following which bombs were hurled at each other, leading to severe injuries to five BJP activists.

The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, official sources said.

Film director-turned-TMC candidate Raj Chakraborty was gheraoed in the Barrackpore constituency by BJP supporters, who accused him of influencing voters.

Chakraborty denied the allegations.

TMC supporters had a verbal duel with the central forces in Habra constituency when its TMC candidate and state minister Jyotipriyo Mullick visited a polling booth in the area.

In the Dum Dum Uttar constituency, a scuffle broke out between the TMC and BJP supporters when the ruling party opposed the visit of the saffron party candidate Archana Majumdar to the polling stations.

In the Amdanga constituency, country-made crude bombs were recovered by police personnel.

Over 1.03 crore voters are set to decide the political fate of 306 candidates in this phase. As many as 1,071 companies of central forces have been deployed to ensure free and fair polling, officials said.

The voting exercise is underway in 14,480 polling stations of the 43 assembly segments.

Bengal has been reporting a record number of Covid-19 cases over the past few days, breaching the 10,000- mark of daily infections on Wednesday.

The Election Commission on the day turned down the TMC’s requests of clubbing the remaining phases of the elections. However, the poll panel has prohibited campaigning between 7 pm and 10 am to discourage public gatherings. It has also extended the silence period to 72 hours from 48 hours prior to polling in the sixth, seventh and eighth phases of the elections.

The state registered its highest single-day spike of 10,784 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, while 58 more people lost their lives.

Bombs hurled in Titagarh, six injured

At least six persons, including a child, sustained splinter injuries in North 24 Parganas district's Titagarh assembly constituency after bombs were hurled indiscriminately on Thursday afternoon amid the voting exercise for the sixth phase of polls, a police officer said.

A huge team of police personnel and CAPF jawans were rushed to the area following the incident, the officer said.

Preliminary probe has revealed that unidentified persons, wearing masks, hurled several crude bombs near Tata Gate in Titagarh, he said.

"The injured are undergoing treatment at BN Bose hospital. We are looking into the matter," the officer added.