This Article is From May 13, 2009

West Bengal village boycotts voting

West Bengal village boycotts voting
Kolkata: More than 500 voters of Charjadubati village in the Kalyani assembly segment of the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency have boycotted the polls demanding land rights, drinking water, roads and electricity.

No voter turned up at the polling booth at Charjadubati Primary School in the assembly segment in Nadia district, official sources said.

Meanwhile, around 15 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 10:00 am in elections to 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in the last phase of the polls in West Bengal on Wednesday, the election office said.

The situation was peaceful and incident free, Chief Electoral Officer Debashis Sen said.

"Strict arrangements have been made in all constituencies and most booths have been declared sensitive. Armed police have been deputed in all booths in the 11 constituencies," Sen said.

However, according to police, a tiffin box found in a booth in Garifa High School under the Barrackpore constituency created a scare and the bomb disposal squad was called in.

But the polling process was not disturbed, they said.

One person, Saminul Haque, was killed before polling began in a clash between Trinamool Congress and CPM supporters at Baliguri on the outskirts of Kolkata, the police added.

The 11 constituencies where polling is taking place are two in the metropolis -- Kolkata South and Kolkata North, four in South 24 Parganas -- Diamond Harbour, Mathurapur, Joynagar and Jadavpur and five in North 24 Parganas -- Dum Dum, Barrackpore, Barasat, Basirhat and Bongaon.
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