4.5.11

West Bengal Polls

The average polling percentage in Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and 13 seats in Burdwan is expected to cross 87%, up by 4% from the tally in past elections. Polling was held in 63 seats in this phase. People who used to be locked up in highrises of Howrah or in remote villages of Hooghly and East Midnapore in earlier Assembly polls came out to vote. The polling percentage rose a few notches above the average polling in the past in these districts. Voter turnout in East Midnapore was 89.40%. It could go above the 89% mark in recorded in the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Unlike in the past, Trinamool Congress could depute polling agents in all the booths in the CPM-dominated Arambagh belt in Hooghly. The CPM though could not field polling agents in 40 booths in Nandigram. In East Midnapore's Khejuri, another flashpoint, though they deputed polling agents in all booths. Flashpoints from Burdwan's Mangalkote to Hooghly's Khanakul remained peaceful on poll day due to EC's elaborate security arrangement. The surge in voter turnout has kept political parties on their tenterhooks. CPM leaders were worried even in places where the CPM had a comfortable lead in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

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