Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) Re-polling for the Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal concluded peacefully at 6 p.m. on Thursday, with no reports of violence, tension or electoral malpractice from any of the 285 polling booths.

As per the statistics available from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, the polling percentage recorded till 5 p.m. stood at a high 86.11 per cent.

“Since, at the end of the official polling time of 6 p.m., some voters were still standing in the queues at certain polling booths, polling continued there for some more time. Hence, it will take some more time to calculate the final polling percentage, which may be declared later in the evening or on Friday morning,” an official said.

He also said that the final polling percentage was expected to cross the 90 per cent mark, as witnessed during the two phases of the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls held on April 23 and April 29.

“Such a high polling percentage in the case of a re-poll, and that too where the poll outcome is unlikely to alter the power equations in the state under any circumstances, is remarkable. The credit goes to the Election Commission of India’s tight security arrangements and its success in instilling confidence among voters to visit polling booths fearlessly,” an insider from the CEO’s office said.

Since morning, the Trinamool Congress, which was the ruling party in the state earlier, including the party’s candidate Jahangir Khan, remained largely absent from the polling scene.

Although Khan had announced last week that he was withdrawing from the contest, the announcement remained symbolic as his name continued to appear on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) on Thursday.

However, polling agents of the major political parties, namely the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), CPI(M) and Congress, were present at all polling booths.

The re-polling was conducted under blanket security cover, with 35 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed across the constituency, a significantly high deployment for a single Assembly segment.

Polling for the Falta Assembly seat was first conducted on April 29. Following widespread complaints of electoral malpractices on that day, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered re-polling across the entire constituency.

The results of the re-polling will be declared on May 24.

–IANS

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