Repolling at 15 booths in West Bengal: At 86.9%, voter turnout dips below original state, district rate

DIAMOND HARBOUR/KOLKATA: Fifteen booths in South 24 Parganas that went for a repoll on Saturday logged a turnout of 86.9%, substantially lower than the record-breaking 92.94% clocked over the two phases of polling in Bengal.

Eleven of these booths were in Magrahat West and four in Diamond Harbour assembly seats.

Saturday's turnout was also lower than South 24 Parganas' turnout of 93.48% on April 29. The 11 Magrahat West booths recorded a voter turnout of 86.1%, much lower than the 94.19% that the assembly seat had recorded on April 29. Similarly, the four Diamond Harbour booths could notch up a turnout of 87.6%, falling short of the 94.26% that the seat had clocked. The figures, were however, still higher than those recorded in previous elections.

The Election Commission had on Friday ordered the repoll in the 15 booths following reports of irregularities during Wednesday's vote.



Across the areas where TOI criss-crossed Magrahat and Diamond Harbour, most people standing in the queues kept repeating that they had to vote to ensure that their "votes did not go to waste".

As voters stood in queue all over again since early this morning, everyone shared their reason for voting. Razia Gazi stood with a tense face outside the Bahipuiya Kurkuria Free Primary School, a booth located almost 23 km from Diamond Harbour. A voter in the Diamond Harbour constituency, she broke into a smile when she saw her daughter, Rojina Bibi, walking down along with her husband.

"My daughter had come to cast her vote all the way from Mumbai. She left with my son-in-law on Friday morning. They boarded the train on Saturday from Kolkata. I received a call from the BLO informing me of a repoll. I called my son-in-law. Initially, he dismissed the idea of bringing Rojina back. I spoke to him for 30 minutes to tell him how important this vote is for all of us. I was not sure he was convinced. I am relieved today," said Gazi.

About 25 km away, at Ghola Nayapara Girls' Madrasah under the Magrahat West assembly constituency, Giasuddin Haldar said he had been standing in line since 9 am. It was already past an hour when he managed to cast his vote. "I had a train ticket from Bengaluru today. I heard the announcement at the village chowk and promptly cancelled my ticket. I wonder why a repoll was required. But if I have to establish my democratic right by voting yet again, I will do it," said Haldar.

"We are seven brothers. We have 16 votes in the family. The SRO has deleted 12 of them despite us repeatedly forwarding our documents. Do you really think I will miss the repoll?" asked Amjad Gazi while standing in the queue outside Aktara Malaya Free Primary School.

"We have 1,147 voters at Bagda Junior High School. By 3 pm, 904 of them had already cast their votes, and another 80-odd are already in the repoll queue. We have to clock 97% polling like last time," stated a polling official.

The voters were helped by the administration, which ensured that voting remained peaceful and fair. At the Akhtara booth and the Najra FP School—booths where claims were made of stickers and cupboards being used to hide names and symbols of certain candidates, including the BJP—voters were taken aback to see a large CRPF and RAF contingent with anti-riot Vajra and Marksman vehicles entering the village. Located several kilometres apart, multiple observers kept criss-crossing the Najra FP School and Bagda Junior High School booths. "Is everything okay? What is your feedback?" they asked voters and even journalists.

However, a couple of BLOs said that it might still be difficult to match voter percentage witnessed on April 29 with that of Saturday. "We have a total of 1,101 voters at two booths at Aktara Malaya FP School. On April 29, we recorded 97% polling here. Till 3 pm, 667 votes have been cast," said BLO Phuleswari Raiya.
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