Bengal phase 3 polls: 77.67 per cent voter turnout recorded till 5:30 pm

New Delhi: As the third phase of the highly contested West Bengal Assembly elections is underway, a voter turnout of 77.67 per cent was recorded till 5:30 pm on Tuesday.

Hooghly once again recorded the highest turnout till 5:30 pm with 79.29 per cent, while Howrah and South 24 Parganas registered 77.91 per cent and 76.74 per cent respectively, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Among all constituencies, Goghat reported the highest turnout with 84.71 per cent, while Diamond Harbour and Tarakeswar recorded turnouts of 75.17 per cent and 78.37 per cent respectively.

Arambagh and Bihnupur recorded 79 per cent turnout each.

Earlier, a clash had erupted between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Arambagh as voting for the third phase of West Bengal Assembly polls began at 7 am today.

There are 205 candidates in the fray in this round of polling. However, when it comes to women representation, there are only 13 women candidates contesting in this phase, merely six per cent.

A total of 832 companies of central security forces have been deployed in the constituencies to ensure a peaceful election.

Out of these, 214 companies of Quick Response Teams (QRTs) is present in the third phase. The voting in this phase of elections is being held in 31 Assembly constituencies in three districts – eight in Hooghly, seven in Howrah and 16 in South 24 Parganas.

A total of 78,52,425 electors will take part in the third phase of the polls. Of these, 2,30,055 people will be voting for the first time. A total of 1,26,148 voters fall in the age group of above 80 years.