This is round 3, but phase 1 in West Bengal. For the first time you see disgruntled people boycotting the election from Dooars' tea-gardens down to tribals in Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura. There was no voter in 96 booths across the state. It was a great challenge for the Bengal Government as well as the Election Commission to ensure a good and peaceful election at tribal-dominated Lalgarh. They must be disappointed by the voters' response to various arrangements by them. People did not show any interest, for whatever reasons, in casting their votes. According to an estimate, just about 15% of the voters turned out.
The Maoists' call for election boycott is , sure, a reason for this low turnout. But people's disenchantment is another definitive cause.
But the election boycott is actually going to help the ruling leftists, and increase the odds of the Trinamul-Congress alliance.
