Chennai: The eighth and final phase of voting is being held in West Bengal today amid the growing menace of Covid that is spreading fast in the State.
The election is being held on 35 seats lying across Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Kolkata.
Actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty cast his vote at a polling station in Kashipur-Belgachia, North Kolkata.
He said, ‘I had never voted so peacefully ever before. I must congratulate all the security personnel.’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, ‘Last phase of the 2021 West Bengal elections takes place today. In line with the COVID-19 protocols, I call upon people to cast their vote and enrich the festival of democracy.’
Six seats in Malda, 11 each in Murshidabad and Birbhum and seven seats in Kolkata are voting in this phase. Polling is being held across 11,860 centres. The voters will choose among 283 candidates, 35 of whom are women.
Voting suffered a half-an-hour delay at polling booth number 188 in West Bengal’s Birbhum due to an EVM snag.
West Bengal on Wednesday logged 17,207 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest-single day spike recorded in the state so far, pushing the tally to 7,93,552, a bulletin issued by the health department said. The death toll climbed to 11,159 with 77 more fatalities which is also the maximum count during a day, it said.