Hyderabad:West Bengal on Saturday recorded an average voter turnout of 79.79 per cent in the first phase of Assembly elections till 6.30 pm, according to the Election Commission.
West Bengal had an estimated 84.22% voter turnout in the first assembly elections in 2016 while in giving a less count, this year election recorded 79.79 per cent.
In 2016, first phase elections were conducted in Nayagram, Gopiballavpur, Jhargram, Salboni, Medinipur, Binpur, Bandwan, Balarampur, Baghmundi, Joypur, Purulia, Manbazar, Kashipur, Para, Raghunathpur, Ranibandh, Raipur, Taldangra.
2% less voter turnout than 2016 polls in phase 1 polling in Bengal The polling ended at 6.30 pm and among the five districts in the state, Purba Medinipur recorded the highest voter turnout with 82.42 per cent till the end of voting time. Meanwhile, Purulia recorded the lowest voter turnout with 77.13 per cent.
Jhargram recorded 80.55 per cent, Paschim Medinipur 80.16 per cent and Bankura 80.03 per cent voter turnouts. Stray incidents of violence were reported from some areas that voted in the state.
Polling for the first of the eight-phase assembly polls in the state began at 7 am today with voters turning up to deciding the fate of 191 candidates in 30 constituencies.
All constituencies in Purulia, Jhargram and segments of Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur are going to decide the electoral fate of 191 candidates, including 21 women candidates in the fray.
In the first phase, a total of 73,80,942 electorates will cast their votes including 7,52,938 male voters, 36,27,949 female voters, 55 of the third gender and 11,767 service electors. The Election Commission has set up 10,288 polling stations, of which 8,229 are the main and 2,059 are auxiliary.
The state is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress-Left alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the fray.
Notably, over 81% electorate had exercised their franchise in polling for the fifth and penultimate phase of the West Bengal Assembly election.
Altogether 349 candidates, including 43 women, were in the fray for the fifth phase where about 1.2 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise. So far all the phases have seen over 80 per cent voter turnouts. The fourth phase had recorded 81.25 per cent voter turn out while the figures in the third and second phases were 82.28 per cent and 83.05 per cent respectively.
(With inputs from agencies)
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