WB polls: 39.23 percent voter turnout till 11 am

Birbhum,(West Bengal : The second phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls witnessed an overall voter turnout of 39.23 percent till 11 am on Sunday.

The turnout by the voters in the state was 21.79 percent till 9 a.m.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all voters to turn out in large numbers.

“As Phase II of the West Bengal polls begins, I urge all those voting today to turnout in record numbers & vote,” he tweeted.

383 candidates including 33 women are in the fray for the 56 seats spread in seven districts.

About one crore 21 lakh people are enrolled for the second round of polling to vote for five constituencies in Alipurduar, seven in Jalpaiguri, six in Darjeeling, nine in Uttar Dinajpur, six in Dakshin Dinajpur, 12 in Malda and 11 in Birbhum districts.

More than 13 thousand 600 polling stations have been put up including 311 model booths.

Meanwhile, despite the heavy security deployed in the region, clashes broke out between different party workers here today in which at least three people were injured.

A violent scuffle broke out between Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bharatiya Janata Party workers near a polling station in Birbhum.

Last night the Congress, CPI (M) common office in North Dinajpur was vandalised and ransacked. The Congress alleged TMC’s hand in it.

There seems to be no dent in the incidents of violence despite the beefed up security, including adequate deployment of Central paramilitary forces. (ANI)