Voting began on Saturday at 15 booths across two assembly constituencies in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, a day after the Election Commission ordered a repoll following reports of electoral malpractices.
The repolls are being held in 11 polling stations in Magrahat Paschim and four in Diamond Harbour.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, an EC official said.
"Polling was peaceful in the first hour. There has been no incident of violence or unrest. We have an adequate number of central forces in the two constituencies. Webcasting is also underway, and we are monitoring the proceedings," the official said.
Voting in these two assembly constituencies was held in the second phase of the state elections on April 29. The EC had said that the repoll order was based on reports received from returning officers and observers of the two constituencies and "material circumstances".
In Magrahat Paschim, TMC's Md Samim Ahamed Molla is pitted against BJP nominee Goursundar Ghosh, while Abdul Majid Halder of the Congress and ISF candidate Abdul Aziz Al Hassan are in the fray.
TMC candidate Panna Lal Halder is contesting against Dipak Kumar Halder of the BJP in the Diamond Harbour seat. Goutam Bhattacharya of the Congress and CPI(M)'s Samar Naiya are among other candidates.
Notably, the BJP has alleged widespread electoral malpractices in certain polling stations in both seats, which fall under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency represented by Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The Election Commission deputed its special observer, Subrata Gupta, to verify the allegations on the ground.
The poll body will decide on ordering a repoll in the Falta assembly constituency on Saturday.
The West Bengal assembly elections were held in two phases on April 23 and April 29 amid heavy security arrangements. Counting of votes will take place on May 4.