Kolkata: The third phase of voting for 62 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal is currently underway.
Congress leader Somen Mitra arrived in North Kolkata’s St. Paul’s Cathedral College earlier today to cast his vote.
Meanwhile, people queued up in large numbers outside the polling booths for voting in the third phase of West Bengal election.
A differently abled person also arrived to cast his vote in St. Paul’s Cathedral College.
The Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements for the polling that is underway in North Kolkata and Murshidabad, Burdwan and Nadia districts of West Bengal.
In all, 418 candidates including 70 independents and 34 women are in the fray. 58 candidates for seven constituencies of North Kolkata, 189 for 22 seats of Murshidabad, 108 for 17 seats of Nadia and 83 contestants for 16 seats of Burdwan districts are trying their luck.
Voting is being conducted in 16,461 polling stations, 3,401 of them sensitive including 324 in North Kolkata. Besides general and police observers, 3,376 micro observers of the Commission are on duty.
In Murshidabad, earmarked as the district with a high number of trouble zones, three police observers have been deputed.
The elections to the 294 seat West Bengal Assembly are being conducted in six voting phases, spread across seven polling days till May 5.
Polling under the first phase was held on two days, on April 4 and 11.
The second phase polling was conducted on last Sunday. The counting of all the constituencies will be done on May 19.
The poll percentage for the first phase of West Bengal assembly election was 80.92, in the second phase it was 79.91 and in the second phase it was over 83 percent.
Stringent security measures have been taken in all the polling centres in Kolkata and the three districts.
More than 700 companies of central security forces and 25,000 state police personnel are manning every nook and corner of the election areas.
The security was further tightened last evening when reports from Murshidabad came that anti socials were grouping and amassing firearms and the opposition parties complained of intimidation of voters in Beleghata, Belgharia and Kashipur areas of Kolkata allegedly by the supporters of the ruling party.
NGOs and other organizations in the districts have taken measures to beat the high humidity and heat by arranging camps near polling stations to distribute cold water and soft drinks. (ANI)