West Bengal loksabha first phase elections were held for the Jalpaiguri, Alipuduar and Cooch Behar seats in the State and according to the Election Commission of India (EC), voting was largely peaceful with over 77.57% people exercising their franchise till 5pm.
Till the last count, the voter turnout in Cooch Behar was 77.73%; 79.33% in Jalpaiguri and 75.54% in Alipurduar.
Noteworthy, a total of 37 candidates, including Union Minister and BJP leader Nisith Pramanik (Cooch Behar), are in the fray in the three constituencies of West Bengal.
PM Modi addressed public meetings in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar while TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and party leader Abhishek Banerjee also held several rallies and roadshows in these places.
62% polling in Phase 1 amid violence in Manipur, WB & shutdown call in Nagaland
At least 62 per cent of 16.63 crore voters cast their votes in 102 constituencies on Friday, as India embarked on a mammoth exercise to elect a new Lok Sabha.
TMC said, “Shame on the BJP! In their desperation to cling to power, they’re resorting to outright voter suppression.
Amid incidents of shooting and intimidation in ethnic-strife hit Manipur, sporadic clashes in West Bengal and shut down call leading to none turning up for voting in six districts of Nagaland held.
TMC alleged reports pouring in from booths 59, Andaran Phulbari-II, Tufanganj, and Cooch Behar reveal that BJP goons are obstructing voters from casting their ballots.”
West Bengal witnessed a resurgence of political violence on Friday as Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri constituencies went to polls in Phase 1 of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
BJP West Bengal too slammed TMC for their alleged involvement in the incidents that have sparked violence.
The BJP has called on the election commission to take stringent action against perpetrators involved in the incident.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused each other of perpetrating violence, injuring their poll agents and workers, and disrupting the electoral process in the state.
Sporadic Violence Mars Bengal’s First Phase
Sporadic incidents of violence marred the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Bengal’s three parliamentary constituencies, with a 77% voter turnout till 5 pm and several injuries reported as TMC and BJP workers clashed mostly in the violence-prone Cooch Behar seat.
The TMC and BJP lodged around 100 and 50 complaints respectively, which are related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents in the initial hours of polling, as claimed by sources from both parties. Most complaints originated from Cooch Behar.
“We have received a few complaints and we are looking into them. However, we have no reports of any major incidents of violence so far. The polling has been peaceful,” a senior officer from the CEO’s office said.
Coochbehar witnessed a 15.26% voter turnout
According to an Election Commission official, as of 9 am, over 15 percent of the total 56.26 lakh voters in the three Lok Sabha constituencies had cast their votes.
“In Cooch Behar, voter turnout stands at 15.26 percent, while in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri, it is 15.91 percent and 14.13 percent respectively,” a ECI official stated.
108-year-old elector came to the polling station to cast her vote and be part of the festival of Democracy in Cooch Behar district, West Bengal.#ChunavKaParv #DeskKaGarv #Election2024 #IVote4Sure@ECISVEEP@SpokespersonECI@rajivkumarec@anuj_chandak@deocoochbehar pic.twitter.com/wDWEQSqoID
— CEO West Bengal (@CEOWestBengal) April 19, 2024
Election commission on phase 1 loksabha election
The Election Commission said the polling in the first of the seven phased polls was “largely peaceful” with voters braving the summer sun to seal the fate of 1,625 candidates.
This first phase LS polls’ 24 include including prominent leaders like Nitin Gadkari, Kanimozhi, Gaurav Gogoi and Bhupendra Yadav.
The second phase of voting for 89 seats in 13 states and union territories will be held on April 26 and the seventh and last phase will be on June 1.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
