Deputy Election Commissioner Anand Kumar visits a booth in Lalgarh village in West Medinipur district of West Bengal on Monday. — Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

KOLKATA: Polling in the first of the five-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal passed off peacefully on Monday. More than 70 per cent of 68 lakh voters in 45 constituencies across three districts in the south-western part of the State cast their votes amid unprecedented security arrangements and in defiance of the boycott call by Maoist extremists.

"There was no report of any untoward incident," State Chief Electoral Officer Debashis Sen said.

The districts that went to the polls were Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia. In all, 227 candidates are in the fray. Polling was held for 21 constituencies in Paschim Medinipur, 11 in Purulia and 13 in Bankura. The second phase of elections in the State is to be held on April 22.

Tight security

Para-military forces were deployed in large numbers, particularly in areas bordering Jharkhand where the Maoists have a presence. Jawans did the rounds as people poured into the polling stations. Two helicopters were on aerial surveillance.

Deputy Election Commissioner Anand Kumar, who visited some of the areas where Maoists have been active, expressed satisfaction at the voter turnout. There was no complaint of any intimidation of voters in these areas, he said in Medinipur.

The boycott call had an impact on at least six booths: four in Purulia and two in Paschim Medinipur, an official said.

Biman Bose, Secretary of the State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), congratulated the people for turning out in such large numbers. "This proves that our State has a tradition of smooth, free and fair elections," he said. There were, however, complaints of harassment of genuine voters by the paramilitary forces and Election Commission observers.

He said voters had boycotted the polls in certain booths to protest against lack of development.

Mr. Bose, who is also chairman of the Left Front, expressed confidence that the Front, which had won 39 of the 45 seats in the three districts in the last Assembly elections, would fare even better this time.

The Trinamool Congress leadership demanded a re-poll in Keshpur in Paschim Medinipur where it alleged voters were prevented at gunpoint from exercising their franchise. The Congress alleged intimidation of voters by Left supporters in Sabong in the same district.

Reports of boycott

New Delhi Special Correspondent reports:

"The poll process went off without any major incident though there were reports of people boycotting voting at 12 polling booths. These are five each in Purulia and West Medinipur and two in Bankura constituencies," Deputy Election Commissioner R. Balakrishnan told reporters. The boycott related to local issues, he added.

"There was no report of any violent incident, though polling could not take place in booth no. 123 and 107 in Purulia due to Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioning," Mr. Balakrishnan said.

Re-polling, if any, would be decided only after the observers returned from the field and submitted their reports, he said.

Election photo-identity cards were used by 95 per cent of the voters and 40,000 poll personnel were on duty to ensure free and fair elections, he said.

The Election Commission had taken 21 measures to ensure that the poll process was free and fair. This time, passes were issued to polling agents also.

On the complaints against two Election Observers in Bardwan, Mr. Balakrishnan said they had been withdrawn from duty on account of their "unbecoming behaviour" and an enquiry had been ordered.

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