Polling underway for final phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal

In West Bengal, polling for the sixth and final phase of Assembly elections is underway. Under this phase, 25 Assembly seats, including 16 in Purba Medinipur and nine in Coochbehar districts are going go to polls.

The polling began at seven AM and will continue till six in the evening. Barring minor reports of intimidation and prevention of some polling agents at a few booths at Nandigram in Purba Medinipur and Natabari in Coochbehar, moderate to brisk polling has remained peaceful during the initial hour of voting.

style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Over 58 lakh voters will decide political future of 170 candidates, including 18 women. 6,774 polling stations have been set up. Maintaining a tight security cover, the poll panel has deployed 361 companies of central forces who are assisted by a contingent of 12,000 state police personnel.

In all, 67 candidates are in the fray for nine seats in Coochbehar, 12 of them independents. In Purba Medinipur, a total of 103 candidates are vying for 16 seats including 12 independents. Counting of all the 194 constituencies will be held on 19th May.