May 2, 2011 8:35 AM

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WB: Campaigning ends this evening for fourth phase of Assembly polls

The campaigning has come to an end this evening for the fourth phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal. 63 constituencies spread over Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and parts of Burdwan districts will go to polls in this phase on Tuesday. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar, Sudhir Kumar Rakesh has been appointed the special observer for the fourth phase of elections. The Election Commission has already listed the people who are vulnerable to threats from miscreants.Meanwhile, the Election Commission is being flooded with phone calls from voters complaining of intimidation, the highest till date since assembly elections kicked off in the state on April 18. While the number of intimidated voters is approximately 2.3 lakh, the number of intimidators is nearly 14,000. Deputy chief electoral officer (CEO) of West Bengal, Dibyendu Sarkar said, most of the calls have come from East Midnapore followed by Hooghly and Howrah. Burdwan has accounted for the least number of calls so far. He said, so far one lakh 30,000 persons with criminal background and pending warrants have been arrested and the Commission has also identified all the people who were intimidated by the goons. About 14,000 intimidators, with no criminal background have also been identified. Earlier, the full bench of the Election Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi reviewed the security arrangements on 28th of April for the remaining three phases of poll including Tuesday's voting.

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