70 per cent polling in Bengal, 67 pc in Assam

Polling is being conducted under heavy security and no violence or untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in the two states so far, official sources said.

In West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is making a determined bid for a second successive term, heavy voter turnout was recorded with an estimated 70 per cent of 40.09 lakh electors casting their ballots in 18 of the state’s 294 constituencies where polling is in progress. Most of these constituencies are in areas where Maoists earlier wielded considerable influence. 

In Assam, where Congress under Tarun Gogoi is seeking a fourth straight term, 67 per cent of little over 95.11 lakh voters cast their ballots. There were no reports of violence in any of the 65 of the 126 constituencies. 

The 65 constituencies are spread across Upper Assam, the hill districts, the northern banks and the Barak Valley.