Kolkata: The overwhelming turnout was because people knew this was their battle to save their rights after the large-scale deletion of voters in the SIR exercise, said chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, shortly after the first phase of the election, which recorded a voters’ turnout of nearly 90% till 5 pm.The high turnout meant…
Kolkata: Allegations of violence marked voting in the Asansol South assembly constituency on Thursday after BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul’s car was allegedly vandalised near a polling booth in Rahamat Nagar, Burnpur.Paul, an incumbent MLA, accused Trinamool of orchestrating the attack and filed a complaint at Hirapur police station, stating that the rear windowpane of her…
Darjeeling: Darjeeling registered its highest ever voter turnout of 88% till 5pm on Thursday. The record turnout is attributed to residents travelling from various parts of the country to cast their votes amid concerns over their names being struck off the electoral rolls. Voters, cutting across party lines, said their presence was not just about…
Jalpaiguri: A tense domestic drama unfolded at booth no. 25/238 in Phansidewa’s Tarabari, under the Matigara-Naxalbari assembly segment in Siliguri subdivision, on Thursday — when a man staked out a polling station for hours to intercept his wife, who had eloped with another man two years ago.He had reasoned, correctly, that she would have to…
Kharagpur: Dilip Ghosh 2.0 played on match day like never before.Seeking a second term as MLA after a gap of five years, former state BJP president Ghosh conducted polls in a quiet manner, breaking away from his “usual rough and tough” image that had become sort of a brand.On Thursday, the former MP and MLA…
West Bengal’s first phase of assembly elections saw an unprecedented 92.6% voter turnout, significantly surpassing previous records KOLKATA: SIR may have knocked out lakhs of Bengal voters, but the crores who have stayed on the roll have sent out an unmistakable signal on how important they consider their voting rights to be. An electorate of…
Kolkata: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured voters that the Election Commission’s central forces arrangement was “strong enough” and voters had no reason to be scared of Trinamool’s “musclemen”.“EC has made a strong arrangement of central forces. No voter should be afraid,” Shah said at a rally in Arambagh around the time the…
Behrampore: For 70-year-old Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a five-term MP returning to the assembly fray after three decades, poll day began not at a booth but inside a makeshift war room at his Kasimbazar residence, about 5km from Behrampore town.Chowdhury, who represented Behrampore in the Lok Sabha five times between 1999 and 2019, suffered a setback…
Naoda/Malda/Suri: Forty-one people were arrested as episodes of sporadic violence were reported across parts of Bengal in the first phase of polling.Five were held after BJP candidate Subhendu Sarkar alleged he was assaulted by villagers at Kumarganj. Sarkar first alleged BJP agents were denied entry at Banihari booth. Around noon, he reached the spot and…
Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday praised the Election Commission for conducting the first phase of Bengal polls with “minimal violence” and a “record turnout,” attributing the high voter turnout to a “storm of change” sweeping the state.Speaking at a rally in Krishnanagar, Modi said: “In the elections I have seen in the past…
