Voting in the last phase of Assembly polls in West Bengal has now ended. Stray incidents of violence were reported on Thursday from several areas but the overall polling process has been peaceful with 76.07% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm.
Firecrackers were set off outside Mahajati Sadan in central Kolkata on Thursday morning, which were initially alleged to be crude bombs, an EC official said.
The incident, which happened on Central Avenue in the heart of the city soon after polling began in the area, triggered panic among the people.
“Preliminary probe revealed that banned firecrackers were set off and not bombs,” the official at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said, a news agency reported.
Soon after the incident, BJP’s Jorasanko candidate Meena Devi Purohit alleged that crude bombs were hurled at her vehicle while she was touring different polling booths.
“They tried to kill me. It is a ploy to scare the voters,” Purohit alleged. No one was injured in the incident.
Voting for the last phase of the Assembly polls in West Bengal started at 7 am amid a spike in Covid cases in the state. A total of 35 constituencies spread across districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, and north Kolkata will decide the political fate of 285 candidates.
Surjitt Sahani
