People show their voter cards at a polling station during third phase of state assembly elections in Kolkata.
Highlights
- Voting on for 62 seats in West Bengal, including 7 in Kolkata
- CPI-M polling agent shot dead in Murshidabad
- Kolkata flyover collapse, Narada sting and Saradha scam key issues
Violence marked the third phase of the assembly elections in Bengal today as one person was killed in a political clash and the ear of another person was sliced off in the districts. In the evening, BJP minister Babul Supriyo was heckled when he went to cast his vote along with his parents. The fate 418 candidates for 62 seats were sealed today -- the voting percentage was 79.22.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
In Murshidabad's Domkol assembly seat, a polling agent of the CPM died during clashes. He was shot dead as alleged workers of the CPM and Trinamool Congress threw bombs at each other.
The TMC said the fight was between CPM and Congress workers. TMC candidate Samir Hassan said his party did not have any influence in Murshidabad - the area is a traditional stronghold of the Congress.
The ear of CPM worker Lal Chowdhury was sliced off following a quarrel between the workers of CPM and the Trinamool Congress during voting in Burdwan's Ketugram Assembly seat. Eyewitnesses said his leg was also fractured.
In the evening, BJP lawmaker Babul Supriyo was heckled, allegedly by TMC workers, when he went to cast his vote at a booth in north Kolkata.
Alleging that around 40% booths were captured by the TMC, Mr Supriyo said President's Rule "must be imposed in the state for 3 months".
One lakh security personnel were pressed into service for the voting in Murshidabad, Burdwan and Nadia districts. In Kolkata, the ruling Trinamool Congress holds six of the seven seats where polling was held.
Key candidates up for vote today included Trinamool Congress ministers Shashi Panja and Sadhan Pande, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha, five-time Congress legislator Md Sohrab and retired police officer Nazrul Islam. Former Trinamool lawmaker Soumen Mitra, one of the architects of the Left-Congress combine contested from Kolkata's Chowringhee seat.
Trinamool, the Left-Congress alliance and BJP have fielded candidates in all the seats in the state, where the Narada sting operation, Saradha chit fund scam and the collapse of Kolkata's Vivekananda flyover have put the ruling Trinamool Congress in a tight spot.
A notice to West Bengal Chief Minister West Bengal Mamata Banerjee and widely-criticised remarks by Trinamool leader Rezzakh Mollah against BJP candidate Roopa Ganguly have also put the ruling party under pressure.
Polling in West Bengal, which is holding a seven-phase election, will be held in three more phases ending on May 5. Votes will be counted on May 19.
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