West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said that in the first phase of polling in West Bengal, voters cast their votes fearlessly and were happy after exercising their franchise. He informed that more than ninety per cent polling has been recorded, and final data will be available later.

Mr. Agarwal said that no untoward incidents took place inside any polling booth and polling was not disrupted for a long time anywhere. He added that webcasting arrangements were fully effective, with generators and SIM-based cameras used wherever required. Referring to the Pingla incident, he said a decision on repoll may be taken if any discrepancy is found in the report, but at present there is no such possibility.

Meanwhile, State Police nodal officer Anand Kumar informed that forty-one people have been arrested so far in connection with poll-related incidents. He added that five hundred seventy people were taken into preventive custody yesterday.