Kolkata: West Bengal recorded highest polling percentage in first four hours and the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) was also flooded with maximum complaints related to violence and tension, said officials here on Monday. The polling percentage in the constituencies in the first four hours on Monday was 32.78, and the number of complaints received by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) during the same period was 1,088.
Party-wise CPI(M) has filed the maximum number of complaints at 72, followed by Congress at 70, six by BJP and one by Trinamool Congress. As per the records from the CEO Ariz Aftab's office, the highest polling percentage till 11 a.m. was reported from Baharampur at 35.53 followed by Bolpur at 35.22, Baradhaman-Purba at 33.82, Ranaghat at 33.23, Krishnanagar at 32.59, Bardhaman-Durgapur at 31.41, Birbhum at 30.45 and Asansol at 29.99 per cent.
Tension mounted in Pandaveswar in the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency after police stopped senior BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari from entering a particular area. Tiwari complained that the personnel of the state police stopped him despite his having the requisite papers from the Election Commission for visiting the place.
The most serious incident of poll-related clashes was reported from Chapra under Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency as the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress supporters engaged in a scuffle. One CPI(M) polling agent received severe head injuries.Similarly, at Monteswar under Baradhaman-Purba Lok Sabha, a BJP worker was severely injured following clashes between Trinamool Congress and BJP activists.
At Bharatpur under the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency, the Central Armed Forces Personnel had to resort to mild lathi-charge to disperse aggressive gatherings by ruling and opposition party supporters.
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