West Bengal LS elections live: Voter turnout so far is over 47% in 3 seats.Son of Bharatiya Janata Party worker found dead

Voting is currently underway in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in three constituencies in North Bengal. The overall voting rate was 47.29% as of 1 p.m.

The voting process begins at 7 a.m. and is expected to last until 6 p.m.

The three constituencies that will vote today are Darjeeling, Balurghat and Raiganj.

As of 1 pm, the voting percentage in Raigan was 47.56%, in Darjeeling 49.09% and in Balurghat 44.93%.

While voting was taking place, West Bengal People’s Party chief Sukanta Majumdar and TMC officials from Balurghat were seen getting into an argument. The BJP leaders also faced several ‘go home’ slogans.

In the first phase of polls, three other major constituencies in Bengal including Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri went to polls.

Voting in Bengal’s Lok Sabha was suspended in the first phase due to violence, but the turnout reached 77% by 5pm. TMC and BJP workers mainly clashed in the violence-prone Cooch Behar seat, with several injuries reported.

West Bengal Assembly Elections 2024 Phase 2: Voting Updates

• Raju Bista, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Darjeeling, complained that the party’s polling officers were not allowed to enter some booths in Chopra, Darjeeling.
• An altercation broke out between West Bengal People’s Party leader Sukanta Majumdar and TMC workers in Balurghat. Majumdar claimed that a large number of his TMC workers were present at the polling booth. On the other hand, slogans were heard for Majumdar, “Go home!”

• The ruling TMC accepted X’s claims, claiming that central forces deployed to ensure free elections were “hindering democracy in Bengal”. It also claimed that voting had to be canceled in Ward 9 of Balurghat city due to brutal assaults on voters by the military.
• The TMC claimed that over 60 complaints were received during the second phase of voting till 8 am. Of these complaints, the majority are from Raiganj and Balurghat, with over 90% of the complaints comprising issues and malfunctions in his EVMs.
• Apart from the EVM-VVPAT issue, complaints were also raised about the actions of the central forces which saw voter hindrance at several places, the Trinamool Congress claimed.
• The state Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that one of its workers was hanged by the TMC at Moina in Mednipur. The saffron party claimed that the party worker, identified as Dinabandhu Dhananjoy Midda, was hanged by “TMC miscreants”.
• Voters queued up outside a polling station in Balurghat to cast their votes in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.

• BJP state president Sukant Majumdar claimed that voters were prevented from going to polling booths in some places like Itahar in Raiganj.
• The Trinamool Congress alleged that the CAPF was trying to create fear and influence voters in Raiganj and Balurghat.
• According to election officials, 272 squadrons of CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) have been directed to take swift action in case of any disturbance on polling day.
• The poll body will deploy 73 companies of the Central Army in Balurghat, 60 companies in Raiganj, 51 companies each in Darjeeling and Islampur, 21 companies in Siliguri and 16 companies in Kalimpong. Each company has approximately 100 employees.
• In addition to the central forces, approximately 12,983 state police personnel will be deployed.
• The Election Commission of India said 98% of polling stations in three Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal state were in “critical condition”. Central forces will be deployed at all polling stations in these seats.
• The major problems in the capital of Darjeeling are the separation of Gorkhaland, water scarcity, landslides and soil erosion, and problems with tea workers.
• A total of 5,117,955 voters from three constituencies in Bengal will cast their votes in the second phase of the elections. Approximately 2,607,389 men, 25,10,356 women and 210 third gender persons are eligible to exercise their right to vote at 5,298 polling stations.

Related Article: Voter Turnout: Lok Sabha Elections 2024 – Phase 2

Darjeeling constituency

The Darjeeling hill region is gearing up for fresh elections as Gorkhaland’s long-pending demand for independence gains increased attention. Popularly known as the Queen of Hills, Darjeeling is known for its tea, timber and tourism industries.

The constituency is currently in a four-way contest between incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party MP Raju Bista and party MLA from Kurseong, Vishnu Prasad Sharma, who has called for a ‘Bumiputera’ seat. However, he was not accepted by the Bharatiya Janata Party and is currently running as an independent candidate. Bista is backed by the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the Bimal Gurung faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and is seeking a second term in office.

Meanwhile, the TMC has nominated Gopal Rama with the support of Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BGPM), which controls the Gorkhaland Territorial Authority (GTA).

Raiganj constituency

In Raiganj, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Kartik Paul against Trinamool Congress’s Krishna Kalyani, who was previously a BJP MLA who had switched to the TMC.

The constituency was once a Congress stronghold and was known as the backyard of late former union minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi.

In the 2021 assembly polls, the Trinamool won five out of seven seats, including Islampur, Golpokhar, Chakuria, Karandigi and Hemtabad (South Carolina). The BJP won in two of his, Kaliagunj (SC) and Raiganj.

Balurghat constituency

The Balurghat Lok Sabha seat in Bengal’s Dakshin Dinajpur district is being contested between Bharatiya Janata Party president Sukanta Majumdar, who is seeking re-election, and TMC candidate Biplab Mitra, who is currently part of the TMC ministry. It will be done.

Majumdar made her election debut in 2019 and secured 5,39,317 votes, building a difference of 33,293 votes and wresting the seat from TMC’s Arpita Ghosh. Balurghat, once a stronghold of the Left Front constituency RSP, which won the seat consecutively from 1984 to 2009, is also facing a three-way contest with Left Congress alliance candidate Joydeep Siddhanta.

In the 2021 assembly polls, out of the seven assembly segments in Balurghat constituency, four were won by the TMC and three by the BJP.