Bengal assembly polls: 61.11 per cent voting recorded till 1 pm amid violence and Mamata-Suvendu showdown in Bhabanipur

Over 61 per cent of the 321 crore electors exercised their franchise till 1 pm in the second and final phase of polling in West Bengal amid attacks on a few candidates even as tension gripped the Bhabanipur seat briefly as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bharatiya Janata Partys BJPs Suvendu Adhikari took swipes at one another in the same booth areaVoters queued up from 7 am outside booths in Kolkata Howrah Hooghly Nadia North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman districts which form Bengals electoral and political coreOf the total electorate eligible to vote in this phase 157 crore are women and 792 are thirdgender news agency PTI reportedTill 1 pm West Bengal recorded 6111 per cent polling with Purba Bardhaman registering the highest turnout at 668 per cent followed by Hooghly at 6457 per cent and Nadia at 6141 per centHowrah registered 6068 per cent polling while North 24 Parganas recorded 6018 per centKolkata North and Kolkata South recorded 6018 per cent and 5773 per cent turnout respectivelySouth 24 Parganas sees 5858 per cent turnoutSouth 24 Parganas a politically crucial district witnessing several highprofile contests registered 5858 per cent votingThe first phase of polls in 152 assembly seats of West Bengal on April 23 also recorded more than 6218 per cent polling till 1 pmPolling is underway peacefully barring some minor incidents in certain areas We have sought reports from the officials concerned a poll panel official saidThe earlymorning convergence of Banerjee and Adhikari in the same booth area in Chakraberia turned Bhabanipur the chief ministers electoral bastion into the centrepiece of the day reinforcing the symbolic weight of their prestige battle seen as a rematch of Nandigram where the BJP leader had defeated her in 2021Banerjee was seated outside the booth after receiving complaints of alleged intimidation of local TMC leaders when Adhikari arrived there amid heavy deployment of central forcesStepping out of his car Adhikari said I will not allow any hooliganism while Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to rig the election using central forces police observers and election officialsMamata accuses BJP of rigging and lsquogoonda RajrsquoThe BJP wants to rig this election Polls in Bengal are usually peaceful Is there goonda raj hooliganism here Banerjee told reporters alleging Central Reserve Police Force CRPF personnel had visited the homes of TMC leaders late Tuesday night and unleashed terror in the areaShe alleged that election observers were acting at the BJPs behest and claimed TMC workers were being selectively targeted across districtsAdhikari dismissed the charges as signs of frustration claiming Banerjee had realised that not a single vote was coming her wayBanerjee who usually steps out of her Kalighat residence late in the day to cast her vote at Mitra Institution School broke convention and hit the ground before 8 am moving through Chetla Padmapukur and Chakraberia underlining the stakes attached to Bhabanipur and the wider battle for south BengalLater in the day tension flared up in the Kalighat area when Adhikari visited a polling booth and was greeted with slogans by TMC workers prompting police intervention and a complaint by the opposition leader to the EC seeking deployment of additional central forcesSecurity forces had to resort to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd Adhikari chased the sloganeering crowds whom he alleged were outsiders trying to influence the pollsBJP polling agent assaulted in NadiaAs soon as he reached the area TMC workers and supporters raised slogans of Jai Bangla and chor chor against him while BJP activists responded with chants of Jai Shri RamReports of violence vandalism and tension surfaced from several districtsIn Nadia districts Chapra a BJP polling agent was allegedly assaulted inside a booth during a mock poll The BJP accused TMC supporters of attacking its agent while the ruling party denied the charge In Shantipur a BJP camp office was found vandalisedThe ISF alleged that its polling agents were prevented from entering booths in South 24 Parganas BhangarHowrahs Bally constituency saw tension at a booth in Liluah after an EVM malfunction delayed voting prompting central forces to lathicharge agitated voters Two people were arrested in the matterPolice and RAF personnel were also seen chasing away crowds near a booth in Amdanga following complaints of unlawful gathering by bikeborne supportersIn Panihati BJP candidate Ratna Debnath the mother of the RG Kar victim faced protests and her car was allegedly stopped by TMC workers while in Jagaddal the recovery of a firearm near a polling booth triggered tension before police and central forces restored orderBJP candidate from Basanti assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas Bikash Sardar on Wednesday alleged that 200250 TMC goons attacked his car and assaulted his driver when he was visiting polling booths in the constituencyThe TMC did not immediately respond to the allegationsUnlike the first phase where the BJP sought to defend its north Bengal gains the final round has shifted the battle squarely to the TMCs strongest beltIn 2021 the ruling party had won 123 of these 142 seats leaving just 18 for the BJP and one for the ISF For the BJP breaching this southern fortress remains critical if it hopes to mount a serious challenge for power in the stateWith PTI inputs