Ahead of polling in West Bengal, TMC worker stabbed to death, 8 arrested

West Midnapore: Hours before polling started for the second phase of the assembly election in West Bengal, a Trinamool Congress worker was allegedly stabbed to death by unidentified miscreants in Paschim Medinipur, police said on Thursday.

A total of eight people have been arrested in connection with the incident, police added. The deceased’s brother Samiran Dolui demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the case. The incident has triggered tension in the area.

Voting in West Bengal and Assam began around 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm. Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi has urged the voters to vote in record numbers in West Bengal and Assam.

A voter turnout of 13.14 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Thursday in the second phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal.

Voting in a total of 30 Assembly constituencies from the districts of South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur, and Purba Medinipur is taking place in the second phase of the eight-phased assembly elections in West Bengal.

Out of the 171 candidates in the fray, 152 are men and the remaining are women. The total number of electorates in the second phase is 75,94,549. The smallest constituency is Bishnupur with 2,18,690 electorates whereas Daspur in Paschim Medinipur is the biggest constituency with 2,97,849 electorates.

There are 17 NRI voters and 13,118 service voters in the second phase of polling in the state.800 companies of security forces have been deployed to ensure law and order during polling.

The Election Commission has designated 10,620 polling stations for this phase with 8,333 primary stations and 2,287 auxiliary stations. 

The second phase of the election will see the most high-profile electoral contest this election season in Nandigram, part of the East Midnapore district. Contesting from the constituency is Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee and her once protege, Suvendu Adhikari, now contesting for the BJP.

In Assam, a total of 39 assembly constituencies spanned over 13 districts of the Barak Valley, three hill districts, and parts of central and lower Assam will vote today. The fate of 345 candidates, including 26 women, is being decided by over 73.44 lakh voters in this phase.