West Bengal Assembly Election 2021: 76.07% voter turnout recorded till 5.36 pm

Voting is underway for the eighth and the last phase of the West Bengal Assembly Election 2021. The state on Thursday reported stray incidents of violence from several areas where voting is underway with 35 seats up for grabs. Results for all 294 seats will be announced on May 2

However, the overall polling process has been peaceful with 76.07% voter turnout recorded till 5.32 pm, EC officials said. Voting is being held in 11,860 polling stations of 35 constituencies - 11 each in Murshidabad and Birbhum, six in Malda, and seven in north Kolkata.

Actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty cast his vote for the final phase of West Bengal polls, at a polling station in Kashipur-Belgachia, North Kolkata early on Thursday. "I had never voted so peacefully ever before. I must congratulate all the security personnel," he told the media. 

Earlier in the day, Congress MP and party's state chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury cast his vote for the eighth and final phase of West Bengal Assembly Elections at a polling booth in Murshidabad.

In stray incidents of violence, Bolpur's Ilambazar, BJP candidate Anirban Ganguly's car was ransacked by villagers with bamboo poles and bricks. Ganguly was unhurt.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has sought details of an incident where a bomb was hurled near Mahajati Sadan Auditorium in north Kolkata earlier this morning.

On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress has written a letter to the Election Commission of India regarding 'inadequacies' in its direction for counting of votes on May 2.

The party stated that no provision has been made for the submission of negative RT-PCR tests by polling officers and CAPF personnel.