A total of 69.85-per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm in 696 booths in 19 districts of West Bengal, where polling for the panchayat elections was declared void, officials said.
No major incident was reported in the repolling ordered by the State Election Commission (SEC) Sunday amid allegations of tampering with ballot boxes and the violence that left 15 people dead, they said. The repolling started around 7 am amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each booth, besides state police. Voting started late in a few booths as ballot boxes did not reach on time, officials said.
“No major untoward incidents were reported from the districts where repolling was underway. A couple of stray incidents happened and those were managed by the police,” an SEC official said.
However, one person died due to cardiac arrest while standing in the queue to vote in Tehatta sub-division of Nadia district, police said. Among the districts where repolling was being held, violence-hit Murshidabad has the highest number of booths at 175, followed by Malda with 109, officials said.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the violence that took place on July 8 panchayat poll voting rose to 21 on Monday as four more persons injured in the clashes succumbed to injuries. On Monday morning, the father-in-law of a CPI(M) candidate, who was beaten up allegedly by TMC workers Saturday, succumbed to injuries in Krishnanagar in Nadia district. Later, TMC worker Sijarul Sheikh, who was beaten up allegedly by Congress workers at Raninagar Saturday, also succumbed to his injuries.
TMC worker Maidul Sheikh succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Kolkata. He was injured during a clash between TMC and Congress workers in Murshidabad district, Saturday.
Meanwhile, a body identified to be of Astha Mondal, the brother-in-law of BJP candidate Sangeeta Mondal, was recovered from a field in Nadia district on Monday. According to the family, Astha had been missing for the past few days. Police said an investigation is underway.
