Kolkata, April 23 (IANS) A total of 635 complaints were registered with the Election Commission of India (ECI) till 11 a.m. on Thursday regarding the polling in the first phase of West Bengal Assembly polls covering 152 Assembly constituencies in 16 districts

Of the 635 complaints registered with the ECI, 260 have been submitted physically to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), while another 375 have been submitted through the C-Vigil app.

The complaints were mostly regarding violence, election malpractices, etc., said sources.

In the first four hours of polling, the average polling rate in the 152 constituencies was recorded at 41.11 per cent. District-wise, till that period, the maximum polling percentage was reported from Jhargram at 43.71 per cent, with the figure being lowest in the case of Cooch Behar at 38.67 per cent.

A tragic incident took place at a polling booth under the Keshpur Assembly constituency in West Midnapore district, when a voter died within the booth while she came to cast her vote. The deceased was identified as Isratan Biwi. She felt uneasy after reaching the polling booth and died on the spot.

Tension broke out in front of a polling booth in Barwan Assembly constituency in minority-dominated Murshidabad district, after the Trinamool Congress leadership alleged that the EVM button was pressed in favour of the ruling party candidates, but the vote was getting registered in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.

The polling was stopped for some time. However, later the polling resumed following the intervention of the ECI-appointed general observer for Barwan, Ujjwal Singh, and the security personnel.

Singh, while describing the allegation as impossible, said that since an allegation has been floated, the matter would be investigated.

Meanwhile, fresh tension broke out in the Naoda Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district, where Humayun Kabir, the former Trinamool Congress legislator, who recently floated his own political party, is contesting. As his convoy reached the Shibnagar area in Naoda, it was attacked allegedly by the Trinamool Congress activists. However, because of the intervention by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), tension subsided soon.

Amid such stray incidents, former state Congress president in West Bengal and four-time Congress Lok Sabha member, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the party candidate this time from Berhampur Assembly constituency, also in Murshidabad district, expressed satisfaction with the ECI in ensuring overall peaceful polls so far.

The incidents of voter intimidation and harassment, eviction of the opposition polling agents, and large-scale violence, which became a regular election feature in the last few years, are not evident much this time till noon. “The role of ECI this time is really commendable,” he said.

The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said that of the 152 constituencies where polling is being conducted in the first phase on Thursday, the BJP might be able to bag up to 125 constituencies.

–IANS

src/sch/dpb