West Bengal poll phase 6: 84.24% turnout

Kolkata, May 5: Twenty-five constituencies in West Bengal go to polls on Thursday (May 5) in the seventh (technically sixth) phase of this year's Assembly election.

The 25 seats are in Cooch Behar (eight), Alupurduar (one) and East Midnapore (16).

• Assembly Polls 2016 Coverage
• List of 25 seats in Phase 6
• 2011 results in 25 seats of Phase 6
• Bengal election results: 1952-2011
• Bengal poll 2016: Top issues
• A look at earlier 5 polling phases
• Mamata's suprehuman efforts in covering month-long poll
• With 16-0 lead in East Midnapore, Mamata didn't bother to campaign in Nandigram
• West Bengal assembly polls phase 6: 15 crorepatis, 33 with pending criminal cases in fray

Phase 6: In brief:

• Total candidates: 170
• Women candidates: 18
• Total voters: 58.04 lakh
• Women voters: 27.80 lakh
• Total EVMs: 7,790 (VVPATs - 629)
• Total polling stations: 6,774
• Party-wise candidates: TMC, BJP - 25 each; Left - 21; Congress - 4; BSP - 8
• Central forces: 361 companies

End of updates.

7.30 pm: Turnout till 5 pm: 84.24%
Cooch Behar: 82.71%; East Midnapore: 85.09%

6.00 pm: polling concludes.

5.35 pm: FIR against TMC candidates from Natabari and Dinhata---Rabindranath Ghosh and Udayan Guha, respectively---on charges of threatening polling officials.

4.50 pm: One voter collapses while standing in the queue in a booth Siddheswari. He was declared dead in hospital.

4.30 pm: Turnout till 3 pm: 74.15%
Cooch Behar: 72.31%; East Midnapore: 75.19%

The TMC candidate of Natabari openly threatening the Polling Officer of dire consequences!!Frustration for alienation at its height!!!

— Surjya Kanta Mishra (@SurjyaKMishra) May 5, 2016

3.16 pm: The Supreme Court calls the land acquisition in Singur for the Tata Nano project a "farce", rebukes former Left government.

3.03 pm: Five TMC supporters, including a woman, injured after central forces begin lathicharge to disperse a crowd outside a polling boothin Sitalkuchi constituency in Cooch Behar district.

2.20 pm: Four persons injured in TMC-CPI(M) clash in Kuntibar in Moyna constituency in East Midnapore.

2.19 pm: EC receives 1,235 complaints till 1 pm; 678 from Cooch Behar.

2.15 pm: Temperatures now: Cooch Behar, Alipurduar 30 degree Celsius; East Midnapore 34 degree Celsius

2.10 pm: Turnout till 1 pm: 61.88%
Cooch Behar: 58.81%; East Midnapore: 63.61%

12.57 pm: Second report on alleged meeting between TMC candidate Suvendu Adhikari and cops submitted by E Midnapore authorities fail to prove anything. It was the second report which was sought by the EC from the district authorities.

12.07 pm: Turnout till 11 am: 45.88%
Cooch Behar: 42.07%; East Midnapore: 48.02%

11.30 pm: EC has received 700 complaints so far. [103-yr-old casts vote for first time]

As the sixth & final phase of West Bengal Assembly polls gets underway, requesting voters to cast their vote in large numbers.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 5, 2016

11.20 pm: EC seeks report on officers-in-charge's mobile tower location to verify charges of meeting between TMC candidate Suvendu Adhikari and the police officers. The BJP also complained to the EC on this.

10.48 am: Three TMC supporters arrested in Moyna in East Midnapore district on charges of stopping Opposition poll agents from entering booths.

10.25 am: Turnout till 9 am: 23.46%
Cooch Behar: 21.59%; East Midnapore: 24.45%

10.07 am: Temperatures now: Cooch Behar and Alipurduar: 34 degree Celsius; East Midnapore 25 degree Celsius

10.02 am: Wheelchairs kept in nearly 5,000 booths in Panskura in East Midnapore district to help differently-abled candidates.

9.55 am: Voters allegedly threatened by TMC cadres in Moyna constituency in East Midnapore district. Five TMC supporters detained.

9.50 am: TMC district secretary shot at in Baharampore in Murshidabad in post-poll violence; Congress says it's result of TMC's internal feud.

9.43 am: 103-year-old Asgar Ali casts vote for first time. Three generations of the family in the Cooch Behar enclave votes.

9.25 am: Central forces accused of lathicharging TMC supporters in Tufanganj constituency in Alipurduar.

8.58 am: EC receives 250 complaints till 8.30 am.

8.40 am: TMC accused of disallowing Opposition polling agents from entering booths in various constituencies in Cooch Behar.

8.15 am: Former TMC MP Suvendu Adhikari, who is contesting from Nandigram, casts his vote.

8.07 am: Altogether 9,776 erstwhile enclave dwellers, including 567 who have opted for India from the former Indian enclaves -- now part of Bangladesh -- are registered as electors. They are spread across five constituencies -- Dinhata (5,486 voters), Mekhliganj (988), Sitai (1,396), Sitalkuchi (1,898) and Tufanganj (8).

Following the implementation of the historic Land Boundary Agreement, Bangladesh and India exchanged 162 adversely-held enclaves on August 1, 2015: PTI

7.50 am: Trinamool Congress candidate in Nandigram Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday night said a legal notice has been sent to CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra for "making false allegations and sullying his and party's reputation". Mishra had complained to the Election Commission alleging that Adhikari had held a meeting on May 1 at a college at Panskura in East Midnapore district with officers-in charge of Moyna, Haldia, Marishda, Ramnagar and Panskura police stations to keep the central forces away from action during tomorrow's polling in the district: PTI

7.48 am: Temperatures now: Cooch Behar, Alipurduar 23 degree Celsius
East Midnapore 30 degree C

7.46 am: Renowned Left leader Kamal Guha's son Udayan Guha, also a former Forward Bloc leader, is contesting on TMC's ticket this time.

7.42 am: The TMC won all 16 seats in East Midnapore district in 2011.

7.40 am: Left has no agents in several polling booths in Nandigram, say reports.

7.33 am: Fifty-one enclaves in Cooch Behar are voting for the first time. These border enclaves were swapped with Bangladesh last year. [51 enclaves to vote for first time in phase 6]

The People's Alliance must fight the last phase of d battle for a decisive victory with patience,resistance but no complacence!!

— Surjya Kanta Mishra (@SurjyaKMishra) May 2, 2016

7.23 am: Nandigram, which played a significant role in Mamata Banerjee's coming to power in 2011, votes today. In 2011, Trinamool Congress's Firoza Bibi polled over 1 lakh votes here and beat her nearest rival by 43,640 votes.

A differently abled woman arrives to cast her vote at a polling booth in Cooch Behar for final phase #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/5Zdatr0nN7

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 5, 2016

Visuals from Cooch Behar, people cast their at a polling booth in Cooch Behar in the final phase #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/DAfNF6JY9z

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 5, 2016

People gather outside a polling booth in Cooch Behar to cast vote in final phase of West Bengal assembly elections. pic.twitter.com/SucEvHI8Hj

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 5, 2016

7.00 am: Polling has begun. The TMC has 20 of these 25 seats; the Left four and Congress 1.

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