EVM glitches and violence in many regions disrupted the first phase of the voting in the West Bengal Assembly elections. Several people were injured in Nowda, Murshidabad, after unidentified persons detonated a crude bomb near a polling centre. Police stated the explosion was an attempt to disrupt the ongoing elections, causing panic and briefly halting the voting process.
According to officials, the injured were transferred to nearby medical facilities, though the exact number of casualties is unknown.
The security forces rushed to the spot soon after the incident and have begun combing operations to trace those behind the attack.
BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul held the Mamata Banerjee government behind the explosion act and said that TMC would go to any extent to prevent voters from coming out to vote.
"The Mamata Banerjee government will do such things, hurl bombs, load shedding. They will try to damage the cameras. This is the mechanism of TMC. They think they will prevent voters from coming out to vote by doing such things. QRT, Election Commission must take note of such incidents," said Paul.
Also, TMC workers clashed with police as a scuffle occurred upon the arrival of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AUJP) founder Humayun Kabir in Murshidabad.
Widespread EVM glitches disrupted the voting process across several sectors. In Suri, Congress candidate Sanjoy Adhikari alleged that a technical failure prevented him from casting his own vote. Adhikari stated that while a complaint was lodged with the District Magistrate and the local polling officer, no steps had been taken to repair the machine.
EVM glitches were also reported in regions, including the Beldanga, Samsherganj, Kandi, Nandigram and Cooch Behar.
In Purba Medinipur, an EVM malfunction was reported in Birulia of the Nandigram assembly constituency. Meanwhile, in Cooch Behar, voting at booth number 229 in Town High School was suspended for nearly an hour before resuming. Polling was also delayed at booth number 231 in Malda district's Habibpur constituency.
In Siliguri in Darjeeling district, polling could not start on time at booth number 26/31 in Margaret School because of a faulty EVM.