Lok Sabha polls: Voting dips in all three seats, Jalpaiguri sees highest turnout

While the EC received 218 complaints from Cooch Behar constituency alone, over 100 complaints were lodged in Jalpaiguri and 150 in Alipurduar.

“The overall voter turnout was 81.91 per cent. We are not sure whether West Bengal’s poll percentage is the highest in the country in the first phase of elections as the final figures are yet to be announced in many states. It might be one of the highest poll percentages recorded in the country,” an ECI official told PTI.

As per the EC, the voter turnout was 82.17% in Cooch Behar, 83.66% in Jalpaiguri and 79.76%. All three seats recorded a dip in voter turnout as compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when Cooch Behar recorded 84% polling, Jalpaiguri 86%, and Alipurduar 83%.
Altogether 56.26 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the three Lok Sabha constituencies.

A total of 37 candidates are in the fray in the three constituencies. In Cooch Behar, Union minister and sitting BJP MP Nisith Pramanik is seeking reelection.

He is pitted against TMC MLA Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia. In Jalpaiguri, BJP has fielded its sitting MP Jayanta Roy against TMC’s Nirmal Chandra Roy.

In Alipurduar, BJP has replaced its sitting MP John Barla and instead has fielded Madarihat MLA Manoj Tigga who is up against TMC’s Prakash Chik Baraik. The BJP had won all three seats in the last Lok Sabha elections. The Lok Sabha poll is being held in seven phases in West Bengal, which has 42 seats.