Voting was underway on Saturday at 15 polling stations in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal where the Election Commission had ordered repolls a day ago.
The polling, being held at 11 electoral booths in the Magrahat Paschim Assembly constituency and four stations in the Diamond Harbour seat, began at 7 am.
Till 5 pm, a turnout of 86.9% was recorded across these polling booths, ANI reported. The polling booths in the Magrahat Paschim seat recorded a turnout of 86.11%, while those in Diamond Harbour registered a figure of 87.6%.
Voting at the 15 booths had taken place in the second phase of the Assembly elections on Wednesday. The first phase was held on April 23. The votes will be counted on Monday.
The provisional overall voter turnout in the state after both phases was a record 92.4%, the Election Commission said.
The Election Commission panel declared the polls at the 15 booths void based on reports from returning officers and observers of the two constituencies and “material circumstances”.
This was the first instance in which repolling was ordered as part of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.
On Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged that the Trinamool Congress had tampered with voting machines in Falta in the Diamond Harbour area. It had claimed that the button next to the BJP symbol was taped over at several polling booths.
The TMC had denied the allegation and had claimed that the BJP was raising false alarms as it was losing West Bengal.
TMC moves Supreme Court
Meanwhile, the TMC moved the Supreme Court against the Election Commission’s decision to deploy Union government employees as counting supervisors during the West Bengal Assembly election results, reported Bar and Bench on Friday.
A day ago, the Calcutta High Court rejected the party’s petition, which argued that Union government employees are likely to be susceptible to the suggestion and control of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party at the Centre.
The matter is listed for urgent hearing before the Supreme Court on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the state chief electoral officer directed that at least one person at every counting station must be a Union government employee.
The High Court rejected the TMC’s claims on Thursday, stating that it was “impossible” to believe them.
The court added that it is the prerogative of the Election Commission to appoint the counting supervisor and counting assistant, either from the state government or the Union government.
Read Scroll’s coverage of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections here.
|
