Violence, EVM glitches mar phase 3 of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal; Assam, Tripura cross 80% mark; Odisha sees poor turnout

Kolkata: A man was Tuesday hacked to death outside a polling booth in West Bengal, amid the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 21 seats across across five eastern and north eastern states, officials said.

Voting also took place in 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha, along with the Lok Sabha polls.

According to the latest data available from the Election Commission, an estimated 61 per cent polling was recorded in Odisha, 78.97 per cent in West Bengal, 80.74 per cent in Assam, and 80.40 per cent in Tripura.

A group of men attacked 55-year-old Tiyarul Sheikh with sharp weapons, following an altercation, when he went to vote at a booth in Baligram Primary School under Bhagwangola police station limits in Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency, police said.

Congress candidate of Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat, Abu Hena, claimed Tiyarul was a party worker and was killed by TMC cadres.

The Election Commission has sought a report from the Murshidabad district magistrate.

Two other persons were also injured in the attack which, the Congress alleged, was perpetrated by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

In the third phase of the general elections, polling is being held across six Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, four constituencies in Assam, five seats in West Bengal and a lone constituency in Tripura.

The polling process was also briefly hampered with reports of EVM malfunctioning in some states, and the arrest of two polling agents of the ruling BJP in Tripura, an election official said.

Bombs were reportedly hurled outside a booth in Balurghat seat of West Bengal, leading to commotion, he said, adding, central forces also allegedly lathicharged a mob in Suti area of Jangipur.

Among the prominent candidates in the fray in Odisha are BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik.

The electoral battle in West Bengal for the third phase features sitting MPs and TMC candidates - Arpita Ghosh from Balurghat and Mausam Benazir Noor from Maldaha Uttar -Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit from Jangipur and BJP’s Humayun Kabir.

In Assam, noteworthy among those in the fray are two sitting MPs AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal in Dhubri and Independent Naba Sarania in Kokrajhar - BPF candidate and state social welfare minister Pramila Rani from Kokrajhar and Congress MLA Abdul Khaleque from Barpeta.

The solitary East Tripura Lok Sabha seat is witnessing a contest between BJP candidate Rebati Mohan Tripura, sitting MP Jitendra Chowdhury of the CPI(M) and Pragya Dev Burman of the Congress.