75 per cent turnout to cast die in first phase of West Bengal Assembly polls

Eleven ministers of the Left Front government including Ashok Bhattacharya were in fray.

The battle for Bengal began on a brisk note on Monday — the first day of a six-phase schedule — with 74.27 per cent of voters turning out to exercise their mandate.

Noth Bengal’s 54 constituencies,in the districts of Cooch Behar,Jalpaiguri,Darjeeling,North Dinjapur,South Dinajpur and Malda,were up for grabs on Monday.

Till afternoon,Jalpaiguri district had the highest turnout at 39 per cent and North Dinajpur and Coochebhar the lowest with 28 per cent each,sources said.

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The turnout in Darjeeling till 1 pm was was 28 per cent,Malda recorded 37 per cent and South Dinajpur 30 per cent,sources said.

The presiding officer of a polling booth in Hariram constituency in South Dinajpur district was removed for speaking with a minister.

“The presiding officer of 44/66A booth of Harirampur Assembly Constituency was removed after a complaint that he,while coming out of the booth,spoke with Minister Narayan Biswas on phone. He has been replaced,” Additional Chief Electoral officer N K Sahana told PTI.

“The polling is peaceful,” Sahana said. Initially,there were reports of powercuts in Malda,but the situation has been normalised.

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An electorate of 97.42 lakh will decide the fate of 364 candidates including 11 ministers — Ashok Bhattacharya,Kshiti Goswami,Biswanath Chowdhury,Kironmoy Nanda,Narayan Biswas and Srikumar Mukherjee.

Also contesting is Congress leader Debaprasad Roy and Trinamool Congress Darjeeling district president Gautam Deb. The six-phase election will end on May 10.

Prominent candidates in fray

Paresh Adhikari,Left,Mekliganj,Cooch Behar

Kshiti Goswami,Left,Alipurduar,Jalpaiguri

Gautam Deb,TMC-Cong,

Dabagram Phulbari,Jalpaiguri

Asok Bhattacharya,Left,

Siliguri,Darjeeling

Kiranmoy Nanda,Left,Raiganj,North Dinajpur

Karim Choudhury,TMC-Cong,

Islampur,North Dinajpur

Biswanath Chowdhury,Left,Balurghat,South Dinajpur

Sabitri Mitra,TMC-Cong,Manikchak,Malda

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa during their call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday. (Image source: X@eucopresident)

European Union negotiators coming to Delhi this week to step up FTA talks

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EU's top negotiators will visit India to discuss the India-EU FTA, which has gained urgency due to the US tariff war. India will push for concessions on CBAM. Progress has been made in 11 chapters, including digital trade, with the aim to conclude the deal by the end of the year. The EU is also negotiating with other countries.

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