New Delhi: West Bengal recorded over 91% turnout amid reports of sporadic violence during the second phase of assembly elections on Wednesday.According to the Election Commission, overall voter turnout in both phases in the state was a record 92.47%, the highest since independence. The voting percentage in the second phase was around 91.66%, while the voting percentage in the first phase on April 23 was 93.19%.“The combined voting percentage of both phases is 92.47 percent,” the election watchdog said.The total voters in West Bengal are 6.81 crore.Despite strong participation, incidents of violence and vandalism were reported from several areas including Chhapra, Shantipur, Neemtala and Bhangar.In Chapra in Nadia district, a BJP polling agent was allegedly attacked by “miscreants associated with the ruling TMC”, according to party leaders. The injured man, identified as Mosharef Mir, has been admitted to a local hospital, a senior police officer said.BJP candidate Saikat Sarkar said the incident occurred after the mock poll began. “TMC supporters stopped the BJP agent and attacked him on his head, injuring him,” he said. A complaint has been lodged with the local police, although TMC has denied the allegations.The injured agent claimed that 15-16 TMC supporters attacked him, one of them had a gun. He said that he was hit with a rod and he fell down.In Shantipur, a BJP camp office in Ward No. 16 was vandalized on Wednesday morning, with furniture damaged, creating tension in the area, police said.In Bhangar in South 24 Parganas, an ISF agent was allegedly stopped from entering a polling booth, leading to unrest. “Agents’ forms are being snatched and they are being thrown out… women are not being allowed to vote,” claimed ISF leader Arabul Islam. We have appointed agents so that everyone can vote.”Voting was also delayed at booth number 140 in Neemtala, where voting did not begin even till 7.30 am, causing tension among voters.An official from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said, “We have sought reports from the concerned officers deployed in these areas. They have been asked to ensure that voting is free and fair and everyone can participate without any fear.”Despite these incidents, record participation has been seen in this election. Earlier, the highest turnout in the state was 84.72% in the 2011 assembly elections.In terms of participation, the number of women voters is slightly more than men. According to EC data, 92.28% women voted in this phase compared to 91.07% men.Voting percentage was also high in all the states. On 9 April, Assam and Puducherry recorded 85.38% and 89.83% voter turnout respectively, the highest ever. In Tamil Nadu, the number of women voters also outnumbered men, with male participation at 85.76% compared to 83.57%.The voting percentage of women in West Bengal was 92.69%, which is more than 90.92% of men.Reacting to the high turnout, CEC Gyanesh Kumar said, “For the highest ever voting percentage in West Bengal since independence, the Election Commission salutes every voter in the state.”Counting of votes for West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Assam will take place on May 4.