3 Bengal seats lose 2 hours of voting to storm & rain
Times of India | 21 May 2024
BONGAON/BARRACKPORE/ KOLKATA: Heavy rain across South Bengal led to a sharp dip in voting for two hours on Monday with several booths in Bongaon and Barrackpore reporting power cuts, prompting officials to bring out candles and mobile torches to continue the polling process, report Tamaghna Banerjee, Dwaipayan Ghosh & Debashis Konar.
However, once the rain eased and power was restored, people turned up in large numbers and brisk voting continued till evening.But, the turnouts in Bongaon, Barrackpore and Howrah still fell short of the 2019 figures.
The total turnout for all seven Bengal LS seats was 76% (as per EC app till 12.45 am).
The day started with a steady turnout of 15.3% in the first two hours in all seven seats and by 11am, 32.7% of polling was complete. Then a thunderstorm struck south Bengal, sending sunshades of makeshift booths flying, polling officials scurrying for cover and voters making a dash for their homes. The two-hour downpour left the premises of several booths in Bongaon, Barrackpore and Howrah waterlogged. Power cuts also slowed down polling.
"Once the weather improved, our men went around asking people to come out and vote again," said a senior BJP functionary at Bongaon.
By the end of the day, Bongaon, Barrackpore and Howrah had clocked turnouts of 78%, 72.6% and 70.8% respectively, which was much less than the 2019 figures of 82.6% for Bongaon, 76.9% for Barrackpore and 74.8% for Howrah.