West Bengal Election 2021: Voting Underway for 45 of 294 Constituencies; Polling Agent Dies in Kamarhati
KOLKATA: Amid the surging COVID-19 cases across the country, the voting for the 45 of 294 constituencies in the fifth phase of assembly elections began at 7 AM today.
According to reports, with tight security in place, long queues were seen outside polling booths where voting is underway adhering to coronavirus guidelines.
Districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Jalpaiguri in north Bengal and the districts of Nadia, Purba Bardhaman, and North 24 Parganas in south Bengal are polling in this phase.
While the Hills of North Bengal has been a BJP bastion since before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, with the BJP winning all Hills seats in that election, the other three districts have largely remained TMC bastions.
Meanwhile, a BJP polling agent at booth number 107 in the Kamarhati constituency died on April 17.
Further, the Election Commission has sought a report over the sudden demise of a BJP polling agent at booth number 107 in the Kamarhati constituency.
The deceased agent's brother said, "His name is Abhijeet Samant. Nobody helped him, there is no facility for treatment here."
West Bengal, on Friday, reported 6,910 new COVID-19 cases, 2,818 recoveries, and 26 fatalities.