The counting of votes for the three-tier panchayat polls to nearly 74,000 seats is underway in West Bengal amid tight security, officials said.
The Trinamool Congress is leading in nearly 18,000 seats. Its nearest rival BJP is leading in more than 4,000 out of 63,229 seats, according to the latest declarations.
There are around 339 counting venues spread across 22 districts.
"The counting, which began at 8 am, is likely to continue for the next two days. It will take time for the ballots to be counted and the results to be compiled. We are hopeful that a trend will be available by the end of the day," an SEC official said.
All the counting venues will be manned by armed state police personnel and central forces, with prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC being imposed outside the venue to avoid any untoward incidents.
Here are the Highlights Bengal rural poll counting:
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma tweets, "Yesterday, 133 individuals who feared for their lives due to violence in the panchayat election in West Bengal sought refuge in Dhubri District of Assam. We have provided them with shelter in a relief camp, as well as food and medical... pic.twitter.com/3TFgWSXWIp
- ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2023
#WATCH | West Bengal BJP MLA & general secretary Agnimitra Paul says, "...people were murdered in this Panchayat election and our CM & 'Bhaipo' who made tall claims that this will be a peaceful election have not made any statement. There was firing & bombing in my constituency,... pic.twitter.com/CM2afy5xFy
- ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2023
Security personnel open lathi charge to disperse a large number of people who gathered outside a polling station in Howrah. They were reportedly attempting to enter the counting centre.
#WATCH | West Bengal panchayat election | Security personnel open lathi charge to disperse a large number of people who gathered outside a polling station in Howrah. They were reportedly attempting to enter the counting centre.
- ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2023
Counting of votes of Panchayat election is taking... pic.twitter.com/j8HRWcnGLC
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Tuesday vowed to crack down on the growing violence in the state, which has marred the ongoing panchayat elections.