New Delhi: For the first phase of assembly elections till 1 pm, 60.01% voting has been done in Assam and 70.02% in West Bengal. The voting process in both the states started at 7 am. In the first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal, voting for 30 seats under tight security, more than 73 lakh voters will decide the fate of 191 candidates in these seats. Maximum of these seats are in the Naxalite affected Jungle Mahal area.
At the same time, polling for 47 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections in Assam began at seven in the morning, in this phase, the political fate of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, ministers and opposition leaders will be decided. Officials in West Bengal said that the polling will last till six in the evening and voting is being held under tight security.
The Election Commission has deployed around 730 contingents of central forces to protect 10,288 polling stations in 7,061 precincts. He told that there are 100 security personnel in each troop of central forces. Long queues were seen outside many polling stations even before the voting began. People flocked to vote early in the morning to avoid any fear of heat and later violence.
In Assam, a total of 81,09,815 voters will be able to exercise their franchise in the first phase. There are 40,77,210 males and 40,32,481 females, while there are 124 third gender voters, besides nine foreign voters. Voting will continue till six in the evening.
