Peaceful, high turnout in West Bengal polls

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Former volatile spots Singur and Nandigram voted on Tuesday as millions exercised their franchise Tuesday in 63 constituencies of four districts in the fourth phase of West Bengal elections.

A high voter turnout of 72 per cent was recorded till 3 p.m.

In a battle that many feel threatens the three decades old Left Front government, there were long queues at polling stations. But it was largely a peaceful exercise.

Balloting took place in Howrah, Hooghly and East Midnapore and in parts of Burdwan district.

Crucial rural belts like Hooghly district's Singur and Nandigram in East Midnapore - both of which saw violent protests against land takeover for industry - saw high polling.

Three presiding officers - in Arambagh in Hooghly, in Jamalpur in Howrah and in Burdwan - were removed following allegations of irregularity, Additional Chief Electoral Officer N.K. Sahana said.

A Trinamool Congress polling agent was arrested when he arrived at a voting centre in East Midnapore as he had a pending non-bailable warrant against him, an official said.

The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) alleged that its candidate from Ketugram in Burdwan was attacked by Trinamool supporters.

Three of the attackers were arrested, Police Superintendent Humayun Kabir said. Fifty others were rounded up from the district, Kabir said.

Tuesday's exercise involved around 1.26 crore voters and 366 candidates.

Hooghly has 18 seats, and Howrah and East Midnapore 16 each. Voting is being held in 13 of the 25 seats in Burdwan.

There was a vote boycott in four booths - three in Amta of Howrah district and another in Katwa of Burdwan - over local issues.

At least 54 electronic voting machines were replaced after they developed mechanical snags.

There are 15,711 polling booths, out of which about 5,000 have been declared "super sensitive" -- an official euphemism to mean they are prone to violence.

The star candidates Tuesday include Industries Minister Nirupam Sen, Agriculture Minister Naren Dey, Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury, Information and Culture Minister Soumendranath Bera and Fire and Emergency Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee.

The CPI-M is contesting from 46 constituencies, the Communist Party of India (CPI) six, Trinamool Congress 59, Congress four, Forward Bloc seven, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 63.

In the first three phases, polling was conducted in 12 districts covering 179 of the state's 294 assembly seats.

The six-phased polls started April 18 and end May 10. The votes will be counted May 13.