New Delhi:
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday said he feels proud about the 92.7 per cent voter turnout witnessed during the first phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal.
Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee informed the court that migrant labourers from across the country travelled to West Bengal to cast their votes as they feared deletion in the wake of the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision in the state of West Bengal.
“As a citizen of India, I was very happy to see the voting percentage. When people exercise their right to vote, the democratic set-up strengthens,” CJI Surya Kant remarked.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked that another good thing besides the voter turnout is, “there was no violence reported”.
Advocate Banerjee, appearing for the West Bengal govt also said that the first phase of polling in Bengal was peaceful.
At this point, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, added that it was a peaceful election, barring a few incidents, and all credit must go to the Central forces deployed in the state of West Bengal.
To this, Justice Joymalya Bagchi replied, “Rajaye rajaye juddho hoye, kulo kangrar jaan jaye (Powerful fight and the ordinary suffer).”
In the first phase of polling held on April 23, 152 constituencies went to the polls with approximately 3.6 crore voters. A historic 92.7 per cent voter turnout was witnessed, higher than the 84 per cent polling witnessed in the first phase of the 2021 Assembly elections in the state.
The remaining 142 seats in West Bengal will go to polls on April 29, and the results will be declared on May 4.
Reports of sporadic violence were received from some pockets of the state during the course of voting day, despite unprecedented security arrangements, where over 2,400 companies of central paramilitary troops were deployed across the 44,000-plus booths where polling took place.