Kolkata civic polls under way, Kolkata civic poll voting percent live updates, Kolkata municipal corporation election, KMC election, West Bengal local body election, Municipal Corporation polling live
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- Category: West Bengal Latest Election News and Updates
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 21 April 2015 15:39
Live Voting %: 60 percent voting amid violence in Kolkata civic polls
Kolkata, (IANS): Over 62 percent of the electorate turned out on Saturday for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation poll that was dubbed a "farce" by opposition parties. But Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress claimed it was "peaceful like never before".
The polls to the 144 ward civic body - perceived as precursor to the next year's assembly polls - was marred by reports of violence and unfair practices prompting even the West Bengal poll panel to express its dissatisfaction over the conduct of the democratic exercise.
According to the poll panel, 62.42 percent turnout was recorded which is marginally higher than the polling figure of 61.59 recorded five years back.
-- Amid claims of widespread violence by the opposition and rebuttal by West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, polling for the 144-ward Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Saturday witnessed around 60 percent turnout at the close of voting.
Calling the polls a "farce", the Communist Party of India-Marxist led Left Front, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress all charged the Trinamool with unleashing violence and adopting unfair means. But the Mamata Banerjee led party asserted the elections were peaceful, free and fair.
"At 3 p.m., the scheduled close of voting, 59.20% polling was registered. The percentage may slightly go up with some of them still in the queues," a West Bengal State Election Commission official told IANS.
-- Amid reports of violence, polling for the 144-ward Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Saturday witnessed 52 percent turnout in the first six hours, a state Election Commission official said.
Opposition parties accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of resorting to violent tactics but the ruling party has rubbished the charges and claimed the polls have been peaceful.
"Till 1 p.m., 52% of polling was registered. We have received several complaints of violence and are verifying them from our poll observers and police officers. Most of the complaints are from the opposition parties," the official said.
-- Amid reports of sporadic violence, polling for the 144-ward Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Saturday picked up as over 35% of voters exercised their franchise in the first four hours, an official said.
"Till 11 a.m., 35.20 percent of polling was registered. We have received reports of some sporadic incidents but no major incident has been reported. Polling so far has been largely peaceful," the official said.
-- 19% voting till 9 am
There were reports of clashes between the activists of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the CPI-M-led Left Front in several parts of the city. Media persons also came under attack at a few places.
Polling for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation was under way on Saturday with over 18 percent of the electorate exercising their franchise in the first two hours, an official said.
While the opposition claimed the polling was marred by violence with voters and threats and assaults to polling agents by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the ruling party trashed the allegations.
"The KMC polls have been turned into a farce. Our voters are being threatened, polling agents have been assaulted and driven out," CPI-M leader Rabin Deb said.
TMC leader and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim, however, rubbished the allegations.
"I would urge to all the people to come out and vote without any fear. The opposition is trying to create panic by shouting terror but not even a single bullet has been fired or a bomb exploded so far," Hakim said.
On the security front, nearly 30,000 police personnel and three companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed while drones are being used for aerial surveillance for the first time.
A total of 3,742,019 voters, including 17.52 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise across 4,704 polling stations to decide the political fate of 1,077 candidates in the fray. The counting of votes is scheduled for April 28. The voters' lists for the first time includes 20 voters under the third gender category.