Kolkata: Polling has begun for 152 assembly constituencies scattered over 16 districts from 7 a.m. on Thursday in the first phase of the two-phase crucial West Bengal assembly polls. 

The voters’ enthusiasm over the elections seemed to be quite high this time, with the queues of voters being witnessed in front of some polling stations in several assembly constituencies, much before the beginning of the polling process at 7 a.m. officially.

This time, the voters are required to go through a two-stage verification process, the first being by the central armed police (CAPF) personnel before entering the polling station premises, and the second by the booth-level officer (BLO) concerned before entering the polling room.

The polling process had been peaceful so far at the time the report was filed. However, there had been reports of some malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) at certain polling booths at the time of the beginning of the polling process.

Mock polling, mandatory before the actual polling process, could not start on time at a polling station at the industrial township of Durgapur in West Burdwan district because of the inactive battery of the EVM there.

Similarly, mock polling could not be conducted at a polling booth at Siliguri in Darjeeling district in North Bengal and Baharampur in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district.

The 16 districts where polling is being held in the first phase on Thursday are Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, and Malda in North Bengal, and Murshidabad, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, West Burdwan, and Birbhum in South Bengal.

Seven of these 16 districts are under the Election Commission of India’s special scanner due to security concerns on the polling day.

The first phase of the Assembly polls is being conducted under unprecedented security cover, with the deployment of 2,407 companies of central forces, including Central Armed Police Forces, the India Reserve Battalion, and personnel from armed police wings of other states, in addition to personnel from West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police.

Webcasting is being conducted in all polling stations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a social media message in Bengal addressing the people of West Bengal. “The first phase of voting for the West Bengal Assembly elections is today. I call upon all citizens to participate with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy. I especially urge my young friends and the women of West Bengal to vote in large numbers,” the message from the Prime Minister read.

The Chief Election Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the Election Commission of India (ECI)-appointed special observer, Subrata Gupta, and the ECI-appointed police observer, N.K. Mishra stayed back at the CEO’s office in central observer overnight on Wednesday, conducting last-minute supervisions to ensure free and fair and violence-free polls in the first phase on Thursday.

The second phase of polls in West Bengal for the remaining 142 assembly constituencies will be on April 29. ​The results will be declared on May 4.