West Bengal panchayat polls underway amid widespread violence

In Cooch Behar district, 20 people were injured in a low intensity blast at a polling booth.

Violence were reported from Howrah and already clash-hit Bhangar in South 24 Parganas as well. Earlier on Friday, a supporter of an independent candidate was shot dead in Bhangar area.

There were reports of violence from several other disctricts like Jalpaiguri, Malda, Nadia and West Midnapore where  at Bikalchak of Keshpur a teenaged girl was hit by an arrow.

However, in many places the police acted swiftly and brought the situation under control, reports said.

Under the shadow of violence, people are voting to elect 38,616 representatives across rural West Bengal.

Voting began at 7 am on Monday. More than 71,000 armed personnel are manning the booths.

Amid tight security, long queues could be seen outside polling booths in several districts of the state.

The key battle in the state is expected to take place between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Results of the poll will be declared on May 17.

Earlier the State Election Commission (SEC) had directed a three-phase poll on May 1, 3 and 5.

After the opposition parties moved Calcutta High Court over the pre-poll violence allegedly by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), the dates were cancelled delaying the election procedures.

The state government and the Muslim community had appealed to the SEC to hold the election in a single phase, considering the beginning of Ramadan in mid-May.