Hyderabad: West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 80.43 per cent till 5.30 pm in the second phase of the state Assembly polls while, in 2016 assembly polls the state had a record of 83.05 % voter turnout, according to the Election Commission of India.
Katalpur constituency recorded the highest voter turnout of 87.21 per cent while the high-profile Nandigram witnessed 80.79 per cent voter turnout.
Voting for the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly election began at 7 am on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference here, state Chief Electoral officer Aariz Aftab said that the polling was peaceful apart from a few stray incidents.
"The turnout was 80.43 per cent polling till 5 pm," he said. The second phase of polling was held on 30 seats in West Bengal.
Election Commission (EC) cited the report of its general observer in West Bengal on Thursday to say voting was not disrupted at any moment at polling station number 7 in Nandigram, from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting.
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In a statement, the commission said "many sections of media have been covering the incident of alleged gherao of Hon'ble Chief Minister of West Bengal and crowding at Polling Station No. 7 at 210 Nandigram AC (assembly constituency) today that inter alia resulted in disruption of poll process".
Nandigram, where the high-profile contest is between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former ministerial colleague and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari, also went to the polls in this phase.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited a polling station in Nandigram. Suvendu Adhikari also visited some places in the constituency.
A media vehicle was vandalised in Nandigram by unidentified miscreants. Voting took place in 30 assembly constituencies in the districts of South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur to decide the fate of 171 candidates.
During the high-stakes second phase of West Bengal Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime candidate Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday remarked that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was acting desperately due to fear of losing.
(With inputs from agencies)
