Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) A significantly high voting of 60.43 per cent was recorded till 1 p.m. in a peaceful repolling for the Falta Assembly Constituency in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Thursday.

The scorching summer heat could not dampen voters’ enthusiasm. Long queues were seen in front of the 285 polling booths, with voters waiting patiently for their turn. The atmosphere was peaceful even as the security forces were maintaining a strict vigil in Falta since polling started at 7 a.m.

According to an insider from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, the trend of evenly high polling percentage throughout the polling period, which was witnessed in the two-phased recently concluded Assembly polls on April 23 and April 29, has also been recorded in the case of repolling in Falta.

“With 60.43 per cent of polling recorded till 1 p.m. and five hours of polling time still left, we are confident that the final polling percentage will surely cross the 90 mark, which was witnessed in the two phases of Assembly polls last month,” the source in the CEO’s office said.

Since morning, the previous ruling party in the state, Trinamool Congress, including the party candidate, Jahangir Khan, has been totally missing from the polling scene. Although Khan last week announced that he was withdrawing from the contest, his announcement was just symbolic since his name continued to be displayed at the EVM on Thursday.

However, the polling agents of major political parties, namely Bharatiya Janata Party BJP), CPI(M) and Congress, were there in all the polling booths. The repolling is being conducted under a blanket security coverage with 35 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) being deployed, which is significantly high for a single Assembly constituency.

The polling for the Falta Assembly seat was conducted once on April 29. Following massive complaints of electoral malpractices on that day, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered repolling in the whole constituency. The results of the repolling will be declared on May 24.

–IANS

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