Assembly elections | West Bengal, Assam witness over 70% turnout in first phase
The Hindu
EC says rate of malfunctioning EVMs was lower than last few elections.
The Election Commission on Saturday said the first phase of polling in the West Bengal and Assam Assembly elections went off peacefully, with 79.79% and 72.14% turnout respectively as of 5 p.m. Voting was carried out at 21,825 polling stations in a total of 77 Assembly constituencies in the two states. About 74 electors were eligible to vote for the polls in 30 constituencies of West Bengal and 81 lakh in 47 constituencies of Assam. The EC said in a statement that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) used for the phase one polls malfunctioned less than previous polls.
In , the grape capital of India and host of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela every 12 years, environmental concerns over a plan to cut 1,800 trees for the proposed Sadhugram project in the historic Tapovan area have sharpened political fault lines ahead of local body elections. The issue has pitted both Sena factions against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. While Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief, and Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), remain political rivals, their parties have found rare common ground in Tapovan, where authorities propose clearing trees across 34 acres to build Sadhugram and a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) hub, as part of a ₹300-crore infrastructure push linked to the pilgrimage.












