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West Bengal on Saturday recorded a voter turnout of 66.76 per cent till 3:30 pm during the fourth phase of the state Assembly polls, as per data from the Election Commission (EC).
Polling is underway in a total of 44 constituencies across five districts today. The highest voter turnout so far has been reported in the Coochbehar district with 70.21 per cent. The Natabari constituency has witnessed the highest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 75.50 per cent till 3.30 pm, followed by Toofanganj with 74.49 per cent. The lowest voting percentage has been reported in Bally with 56.71 per cent so far. Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Behala East, Payel Sarkar, said that she was banking on the 57 per cent women voters in her constituency. "57 per cent of voters in my constituency are women and I am banking on them... I appeal to people to come to polling stations and cast votes. Security forces are deployed. I think everything will go very peacefully today," she told ANI. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that four party workers were killed by Central Forces in Cooch Behar earlier in the day and called it a conspiracy by him. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, TMC MP Sougata Roy said, "The firing took place because common people were resisting the effort by BJP hooligans to disrupt the voting. They are being encouraged by Central Armed Police Force and we feel this is a conspiracy headed by Home Minister, we are demanding his resignation." "In block 1 of Mathabhanga (Cooch Behar) one TMC worker was killed and three were injured after Central Forces opened fire on them, in Sitalkuchi block, three TMC workers were killed and one was injured," Sen has said earlier. This phase of the elections is witnessing an intense battle between 373 candidates in 44 constituencies of the state across five districts -- Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly. ITBP personnel, deployed on election duty, at polling booths in Rishra of Hooghly district helped an elderly woman as she arrived to cast her vote for the fourth phase of West Bengal polls. Security personnel also helped a woman voter get to a polling station in Alipurduar, as the fourth phase of Assembly elections is underway in the state. The smallest constituency is Bally with 1,76,001 electorates whereas Chunchura is the biggest constituency with 3,13,701 electorates. Security has been beefed up in all 44 constituencies with a total of 900 companies of security forces deployed to ensure a peaceful election. Out of these, 140 companies of central forces are deployed in the nine Assembly seats in Howrah, 175 for Hooghly's 19 seats, 185 for South 24 Parganas' 11 seats, 105 in Alipurduar and 188 in the nine seats of Cooch Behar. Among the 44 constituencies, nine are in Howrah, 10 in Hooghly, 11 in South 24 Parganas, five in Alipurduar and nine in Cooch Behar. The fifth phase of the assembly elections will commence on April 17. Counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)
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