Kolkata: An estimated 34. 87 per cent of over 80 lakh electorate exercised their franchise till 11 am in five Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal, amid reports of violence from Murshidabad and Balurghat, an election official said. Long queues could be seen outside the polling booths in Balurghat, North and South Malda, Jangipur and Mushidabad. Barring a few incidents of violence and EVM failures, polling has been largely peaceful since 7am. Voting will continue till 6 pm. Three people were injured in two incidents of bombing in Domkal area and adjoining Tiktikipara in Murshidabad. They have been hospitalised and we have a sought a report on the matter from the district magistrate. No one has been arrested or detained so far, an official said. The overall polling percentage at 9 am was 16. 94, with Balurghat recording 17. 28, Malda North 16. 11, Malda south 16. 22, Jangipur 17. 54 and Murshidabad 17. 54, an Election Commission official said. A total of 80,23,846 voters are eligible to register their choice at 8,528 polling stations that will decide the fate of 61 candidates. Altogether 324 companies of central force personnel have been deployed in the state, covering over 92 per cent of the polling stations across the five constituencies. The CAPF deployment has been the highest in Murshidabad district (96 per cent) followed by Malda (91. 4 per cent). Crude bombs were hurled outside polling stations by unidentified men on motorcycles in Malda South constituency´s Kaliachawk. Following the incident, a large number of state police and central force personnel have rushed to the spot. In Malda North seat, glitches in EVMs were reported at a few polling stations stalling voting for some time. In Mushidabad´s Domkal, husband of a Trinamool Congress counsellor was allegedly beaten up. Members of the state ruling party blamed Congress-backed people for the incident.
