 "vote, election, polls")
The turnout in 18 Assembly seats in West Bengal and 65 seats in Assam for the Assembly elections was a historic high during the first phase.
There was so much rush that the Election Commission had to extend voting by an hour on Monday, senior sources in the Election commission said. It was not clear where.
The voter turnout was 81 per cent in West Bengal and 80 per cent in Assam. The elections ended peacefully with no reports of major violence or injury, said Sandeep Saxena, deputy election commissioner. A total of 16 complaints related to rigging, denial of vote and late start of polling were received.
Polling in the two states was held amid tight security, including large-scale presence of central paramilitary forces and aerial surveillance by helicopter-borne personnel in West Bengal.
The remaining 61 seats in middle and lower Assam will vote in the second and final phase of polling on April 11. Polling will be held in another 31 seats in West Bengal on April 11.
Nearly all the voting constituencies in West Bengal were in Naxalite-affected regions. In 13 seats of the tribal Jangalmahal area, polling concluded at 4 pm due to security considerations. In the remaining five seats of Purulia, Manbazar, Kashipur, Para and Raghunathpur polling went on till 6 pm.
In Assam, an estimated 70 per cent of little over 9.5 million voters cast their ballots. There were no reports of violence from any of the 65 of the 126 constituencies where polling was held in the first phase. The fate of several prominent Congress candidates, including Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi from Titabor and Speaker of the outgoing Assembly Pranab Gogoi from Sibsagar has been sealed in electronic voting machines. Among others whose constituencies went to poll on Monday included BJP's chief ministerial candidate Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal from Majuli and the party's Lok Sabha member from Jorhat Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, who is contesting against Gogoi in Titabor.
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress expressed satisfaction over the huge turnout and said it was indicative of the 'silent revolution' that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had ushered in the state through development.
"There were some issues with EVMs in some booths which were immediately addressed for smooth functioning," Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dibyendu Sarkar said.
Most analysts attributed the high turnout to the dying Left-wing insurgency in West Bengal.
