Kolkata, May 25: Voting began for the eight Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the sixth phase on Saturday morning amid tight security, an official said. The polling began at 7 am in Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, and Bishnupur constituencies. It would continue till 6 pm, he said. A total of 1.45 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase across around 15,600 polling stations, he added. India General Elections 2024: Voting Begins for 58 Seats in Sixth Phase of Lok Sabha Polls Across Eight States and UTs

Of the 79 candidates in the fray, Bankura and Jhargram have the highest number of 13 contestants each, followed by Purulia (12), and nine each in Medinipur and Tamluk, the official said. Seven candidates each are contesting in the Bishnupur and Ghatal seats, he said. Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 6: Polling Begins for All Seven Parliamentary Constituencies in Delhi Amid Tight Security Arrangements

Among the notable candidates in fray in this phase are Bengali superstar Dev, who is seeking a third term as TMC MP from Ghatal, former Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, the BJP candidate in Tamluk, Union Minister Subhas Sarkar in Bankura, and fashion designer Agnimitra Paul, a BJP legislator, who is pitted against TMC MLA and actor June Malia in Medinipur. A total of 919 companies of central forces have been deployed in this phase along with over 29,000 state police personnel.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)