Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) At least 79.09 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm in 43 assembly constituencies of West Bengal where voting was held for the sixth phase on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Aariz Aftab said.

Polling was held between 7 am and 6.30 pm at 14,480 polling stations in 17 assembly constituencies in North 24 Parganas district, nine each in Nadia and Uttar Dinajpur districts and eight in Purba Bardhaman district.

"Polling was by and large peaceful today, apart from a few incidents of violence," a senior official of the CEOs office here said.

Among the four districts, Nadia registered the highest voter turnout of 82.67 per cent, followed by Purba Bardhaman (82.15 per cent), Uttar Dinajpur (77.76 per cent) and North 24 Parganas (75.94 per cent), Aftab added.

The Election Commission has deployed 1,071 companies of central forces for the sixth phase.

The state will witness two more phases of polling on April 26 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 2.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)