The elections to six civic bodies in West Bengal went off peacefully on Sunday with no major incident of violence reported from anywhere. However, both the Opposition Left Front and ally Congress brought charges against the Trinamul Congress of booth capturing and tendering proxy votes. On an average, around 85 per cent of the voters cast their votes for the elections in Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) and Panskura, Haldia, Dhupguri, Cooper’s Camp and Nalhati municipalities.
West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) secretary Tapas Roy said, “Barring some sporadic incidents, the elections passed off peacefully. Two persons, one from Haldia municipality’s 18 no. ward and another from DMC’s 27 no. ward, were detained for creating law and order problem. No casualty has been reported so far. The polls in Nalhati and Dhupguri municipalities were totally peaceful. Some law and order problems were reported from Cooper’s Camp municipality, while elections went off by and large peacefully in Haldia municipality, Panskura municipality and DMC.”
The polling percentages were 78, 87.61, 83.28, 89, 85 and 93.08 for DMC, Haldia, Panskura, Dhupguri, Nalhati and Cooper’s Camp respectively. Compared to 2007, the polling percentages this time dropped a little due to the scorching heat, Mr Roy reasoned.
The elections were held for 129 wards in these six civic bodies. The WBSEC deployed at least two armed police persons each in 732 booths where polling took place. “The polling percentages prove that people tendered their vote without any fear or intimidation. No repolling will be held in any booth and the counting of votes will take place on June 5,” Mr Roy announced.