West Bengal polls: Overall polling percentage recorded in 25 constituencies in final phase till 5 pm is 84.24%, says EC

Voting for West Bengal assembly polls for the sixth and final phase began at 7 am on Thursday for 25 constituencies in the two districts of East Midnapore and Coochbehar amidst strict security. Here are the updates.

05 May 2016

19:21 IST

Overall polling percentage recorded in 25 constituencies in 6th and final phase of West Bengal Assembly election till 5 pm is 84.24%: EC

18:30 IST

While East Midnapore district recorded 75.19 percent polling, 72.31 percent votes were cast in Cooch Behar. The overall average till 3 PM was 74.15 percent.

18:29 IST

An electorate of over 58 lakh is eligible to cast ballots at 6,774 polling stations till 6 PM in 25 constituencies.

18:28 IST

For the first time since Independence, 9,776 residents of border enclaves in Cooch Behar are exercising their franchise, made possible by the formal inclusion of the enclaves in the Indian territory last year.

14:19 IST

Overall poll percentage for the sixth phase in West Bengal elections at 1 pm is 61.88%, reports ANI.

11:57 IST

45.88 percent recorded till 11 am in the sixth and final phase of West Bengal Assembly elections.

11:54 IST

Murshidabad Trinamool Congress district secretary Subir Sarkar shot at in Baharampur. He has been admitted to a hospital with serious injuries.

11:04 IST

103-year-old Asgar Ali casts his vote at a polling booth in Dinhata, Cooch Behar.

10:34 IST

West Bengal Assembly polls: 23.46 percent polling recorded till 9 am in the final phase.

09:40 IST

PM Narendra Modi requests voters to cast their vote in large numbers in the ongoing West Bengal polls.

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

08:11 IST

Polling begins in last phase of West Bengal assembly elections. In Cooch Behar large number of people arrive to cast their vote in the final phase of the assembly polls.

08:10 IST

An electorate of over 58 lakh is eligible to decide the fate of 170 candidates. Maintaining a tight security cover, the poll panel has deployed 361 companies of central forces assisted by a contingent of 12,000 state police personnel.

For the first time since Independence, residents of border enclaves in Coochbehar will be able to exercise their franchise, thanks to the formal inclusion of enclaves in the Indian territory last year.

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 Aspread across five constituencies -- Dinhata (5,486 voters), Mekhliganj (988), Sitai (1,396), Sitalkuchi (1,898) and Tufanganj (8).

In East Midnapore, all eyes are on Nandigram, where a peasants agitation in 2006-07 against the erstwhile Left Front government's bid to acquire farmland for a chemical hub and special economic zone had triggered police firing that resulted in 14 deaths.

Trinamool Congress, which had won all 16 seats in East Midnapore district in 2011, has now fielded its Tamluk MP Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram, who is pitted against CPI's Abdul Kabir Sheikh supported by the Congress-Left alliance.

Among other major candidates are state minister Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar (Mahisadal), Udayan Guha (Dinhata) -- both from Trinamool and Paresh Chandra Adhikary (Mekhliganj) of the AIFB.