Bengal again stands out with high voter turnout amid sporadic poll violence

Kolkata, May 25 (IANS) After the completion of the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal on Saturday, two unique features typical to the state make for an interesting picture — high voter turnout and poll-related violence.

In all six phases of the ongoing elections, Bengal’s voter turnout was higher than the national average amid reports of poll-related tension and violence.In the first five phases, while the national voter turnout average ranged from 61-66 per cent, Bengal saw 76-81 per cent polling.Even in the sixth phase on Saturday, the polling percentage for the eight Lok Sabha seats in Bengal was 77.99 per cent till 5 p.m., substantially higher than the national average of 57.7 per cent till then.While this bodes well for electoral