Panchayat elections: Repolling underway in over 600 booths across 19 districts of West Bengal

Kolkata: Fresh polling was underway on Monday at over 600 booths across 19 districts of West Bengal where voting for the panchayat elections was declared void amid allegations of tampering with ballot boxes and the violence that left 15 people dead, officials said.

No major incidents were reported since the polling started at 7 am, they said.

The repolling, ordered in 696 booths, was being held amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each centre, besides state police, they added.

"No major untoward incidents were reported from the districts where repolling is underway. A couple of stray incidents happened and those were managed by the police," a State Election Commission (SEC) official said.

A road was blocked at Tehatta in Nadia, while voters demonstrated outside a booth at Mayna in Purba Medinipur district, he said.

Repolling could not be started at a booth in Debagram in Nadia as ballot boxes were not delivered, he said.

"There are a few booths where polling is yet to start. We have sought reports on those, and directed the district magistrates concerned to initiate polling without further delay," the official.

The voting is scheduled to continue till 5 pm.

Among the districts where repolling was being held, violence-hit Murshidabad has the highest number of booths at 175, followed by Malda with 109, they added.

Repolling was also being held at 89 booths in Nadia, followed by Cooch Behar (53), North 24 Parganas (46), Uttar Dinajpur (42), South 24 Parganas (36), Purba Medinipur (31) and Hooghly (29), officials said.

No repolling was ordered in Darjeeling, Jhargram and Kalimpong districts, they said.

The decision for repolling in these 696 booths was announced by the SEC on Sunday evening after reviewing reports of violence and tampering with ballot boxes and ballot papers, they said.

Polling was held on Saturday in over 61,000 booths for the three-tier panchayat elections. In several places, ballot boxes were looted, set on fire and thrown in ponds, leading to violence.

A total 5.67 crore people living in the state's rural areas were eligible to decide the fate of 2.06 lakh candidates in 73,887 seats of the panchayat system.