West Bengal Election: Security Tightened as the Second Phase begins today

With the second phase of West Bengal Assembly elections rolling out on 17 April, security has been tightened and Central paramilitary forces have been deployed in the state.

As of 3 PM, voter turnout stood at 70.33 per cent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to come out in large numbers to cast their votes. "As Phase II of the West Bengal polls begins, I urge all those voting today to turnout in record numbers & vote," he tweeted.

A total of 383 candidates, including 33 women, are in the fray for the 56 seats spread across seven districts.

Over 1 crore people have enrolled for polling in the second round to vote for 5 constituencies in Alipurduar, 7 in Jalpaiguri, 6 in Darjeeling, 9 in Uttar Dinajpur, 6 in Dakshin Dinajpur, 12 in Malda and 11 in Birbhum districts.

Over 13,600 polling stations have been put up including 311 model booths. Voting at two polling stations in Malda was delayed by 20 minutes due to a technical problem in the EVM

Besides the general and police observers, 1,563 micro observers will keep watch during the polling today.

-- ANI