Balurghat

Union minister and former president of the BJP's West Bengal unit Sukanta Majumdar, on Thursday, hailed the Election Commission for conducting "by and large peaceful" polling during the first few hours of voting and urged it to ensure a violence-free atmosphere for the rest of the day.

Majumdar, along with his family, cast his vote in booth number 48 in Dakshin Dinajpur district and appealed to voters to follow the "pehle matdaan, phir jalpaan (vote first, then breakfast)' mantra.

"I would like to congratulate the Election Commission for conducting the polls in a by and large peaceful manner till now, and I hope it will be able to keep up the vigil in the same manner for the remaining part of the day," he told reporters.

"We have reports of some sporadic incidents of violence across the state, and last night there was a crude bomb explosion in Murshidabad’s Domkal area. I feel the EC should keep extra vigil in districts like Murshidabad, which has a history of use of guns and bombs during elections," he added.

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Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from some pockets during the first few hours of polling in 152 constituencies, where voting is underway amid unprecedented security arrangements, including deployment of over 2,400 companies of central forces.

The state recorded an average voter turnout of 41.11 per cent in the first four hours of polls.