over-70-turnout-in-8-west-bengal-ls-seats-by-3-pm

West Bengal witnessed a significant voter turnout of 70.19% by 3 pm across eight Lok Sabha constituencies in the sixth phase of polling on Saturday, according to an official announcement.

Polling commenced at 7 am in Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, and Bishnupur constituencies, scheduled to conclude at 6 pm.

Bishnupur (SC) marked the highest polling at 73.55%, followed by Jhargram (ST) at 72.26%, Tamluk at 71.63%, Kanthi at 71.36%, Ghatal at 71.34%, Medinipur at 67.91%, Bankura at 67.41%, and Purulia at 66.06%.

As of 1 pm, the West Bengal election office received 1,646 complaints, with sporadic incidents of violence reported in some areas across the eight Lok Sabha constituencies.

A total of 1,45,34,228 voters, including 73,63,273 men, 71,70,822 women, and 133 individuals belonging to the third gender, are eligible to cast their votes across 15,600 polling stations.

With 79 candidates in the fray, Bankura and Jhargram lead with 13 contestants each, followed by Purulia with 12, and nine each in Medinipur and Tamluk. Bishnupur and Ghatal seats feature seven candidates each.

To ensure security, 919 companies of central forces have been deployed along with over 29,000 state police personnel, according to officials.