West Bengal elections Phase 6: 79.09% voters’ turnout recorded till 5 pm

Over one crore voters in West Bengal will decide the political fate of 306 candidates on Thursday, as 43 assembly constituencies went to polls in the sixth phase. The voting started at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm on Thursday.

A voter turnout of 79.09% was recorded till 5 pm in phase six polling. 

The phase 6 assembly elections in the state come amid a raging second wave of COVID-19 and after violence in the previous phases after which security has been increased. On April 10, five people died in Cooch Behar, in the fourth phase of polling.

According to an Election Commission official, the poll panel has decided to deploy at least 1,071 companies of central forces in the sixth phase to ensure free and fair voting. The EC has put in place some measures to ensure that COVID-19 protocols will be strictly followed during the voting process.

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Prominent names in the sixth phase of the assembly polls include BJP’s national vice president Mukul Roy, TMC ministers Jyotipriyo Mallick and Chandrima Bhattacharya and CPI(M) leader Tanmay Bhattacharya.

The political fate of film director Raj Chakraborty and actor Koushani Mukherjee, who are the TMC’s candidates from the Barrackpore and the Krishnanagar North constituencies respectively, will also be decided in this phase.

Voting will be held at 14,480 polling stations in the 43 assembly segments of the four districts.

This phase will witness stiff competition between the ruling Trinamool Congress and its main rival BJP.