Close to 17% polling in 7 Bengal LS seats

Kolkata, May 6 (IANS) Amid sporadic incidents of violence and vandalism, West Bengal registered close to 17 per cent polling in seven Lok Sabha constituencies on Monday where the fifth phase of polling was underway.

Polling has been highest in Uluberia (20.59), followed by Armabag (19.19), Sreerampur (17.41), Howrah (16.18), Hoogly (15.73), Barrackpore (13.99) and Bangaon (13.68).

All these constituencies are spread over North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly districts, in what is regarded as the core area of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.

The polling started at 7 a.m. and would continue till 6 p.m.

In the 2014 general elections, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress had won all the seven seats.

An electorate of over 1.16 crore, including 60.04 lakh men, 56.86 lakh women and 211 belonging to the third gender, are eligible to choose their representatives from a field of 83 candidates (71 male and 12 female) by exercising their democratic rights in 13,290 polling stations.

Violence erupted in North 24 Parganas' Barrackpore where former Railway Minister and sitting MP Dinesh Trivedi is taking on his erstwhile "election-manager" Arjun Singh, who crossed over to the BJP in March after he was denied ticket by the Trinamool leadership.

Singh sustained minor injury on his face after allegedly being attacked by Trinamool Congress supporters outside a polling booth and in the constituency's Aamdanga.

"I was attacked by TMC goons who have been brought from outside. Those people were scaring away our voters. I am injured," Singh said.

The Trinamool Congress, however, accused Singh of trying to intimidate voters and deliberately creating unrest in the area.

Later, a scuffle broke out between the supporters of the two parties after Singh was stopped from entering a polling station by a Trinamool Congress polling agent.

In Bangaon, sitting MP Mamatabala Thakur of the Trinamool -- the present head of the influential Scheduled Caste community Matua Mahasangh -- is being challenged by her nephew-in-law and BJP aspirant Shantanu Thakur, who met with a car accident two days before the polling.

Violence was reported from the constituency's Gaighata where bike-borne BJP supporters allegedly attacked a Trinamool worker's home and set his motor cycle ablaze.

BJP candidate Shantanu Thakur courted controversy by entering the polling booth wearing a scarf with the party's emblem.

He alleged Trinamool Congress-backed miscreants of terrorising people and trying to rig the votes in many places in the constituency including Gaighata and Bangaon town.

Clashes between BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters also broke out in parts of the Uluberia constituency.

Other star candidates whose fate would be decided during the day are sitting Trinamool MPs lawyer Kalyan Banerjee (Sreerampore) and former footballer Prasun Banerjee (Howrah), while the BJP has nominated actress-turned-politician Locket Chatterjee (Hooghly) and senior journalist Rantidev Sengupta (Howrah).

After reports of violence and death of a voter in the previous phases, the Election Commission (EC) has decided that all the polling stations in the state will be manned by the central forces. Altogether, 578 companies of central forces have been mobilised to assist the state police on the morrow.

According to an analysis done by the West Bengal Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms, 15 candidates have assets worth over Rs 1 crore, with 23 declaring criminal cases against themselves.

The subsequent phases of polling in the state will be held on May 12 and May 19. Polling in 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal have been completed in the first four phases.