KOLKATA: People came out amid adversities Covid and heat wave in the penultimate phase of Bengal polls on Monday covering 34 assembly seats spread over Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Paschim Burdwan and Kolkata.
The seventh phase recorded an average 75% turnout till 5.30 pm. Polling percentages in the four south Kolkata assembly segments of Bhowanipore, Rashbehari, Ballygunge and Kolkata Port fell substantially over previous years as fear and anxiety kept several residents, particularly the elderly, away from booths for the first time in their lives. Till 5pm on Monday, the four seats had notched up a turnout of 59.9%, lower that the 65.3% recorded from here in the 2016 assembly polls and 66% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.