KOLKATA: The final round of polling in the five-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal passed off peacefully with around 72 per cent of votes cast in the 49 constituencies spread across six districts of north Bengal on Monday.

The average turn-out in the four previous rounds of polling, which began on April 17, was 80 per cent.

The day's polling in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda districts was "peaceful and went off smoothly," Anand Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner, who visited the districts said.

Exit poll

An exit poll conducted by a local channel — Star Ananda — forecast a Left Front sweep in the seats where polling was held. While the Left Front was likely to win 34 seats, the Congress could win 11, the Trinamool Congress one and the Gorkha National Liberation Front, a major political force in the Darjeeling hills, three, according to the poll.

Queues started forming outside booths even before polling started at 7 a.m. The voters' enthusiasm was evident in the urban and rural areas both in the plains of north Bengal and the hills of Darjeeling where a nagging drizzle persisted for most of the day. Voting was also brisk in the tea garden areas.

Elaborate security arrangements were made for the smooth conduct of the polls. Nearly 500 companies of central paramilitary forces were deployed and jawans kept vigil outside the booths. Vigil was also intensified along the region's international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Former Minister and candidate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Narayan Biswas from Gangarampur in Dakshin Dinajpur alleged that he was manhandled by security personnel when he tried to enter a booth in the constituency. He filed a complaint with the local sub-divisional officer. Voters boycotted the polls in at least two booths in Malda and two in Darjeeling over local issues.

Biman Bose, Chairman of the Left Front committee and secretary of the CPI (M) State committee, alleged that genuine voters could not cast votes as their names were missing from the electoral rolls in certain areas.

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