May 11: Jiban Krishna Patra, a 55-year-old farmer, was worried whether he would be able to vote, standing behind nearly 300 people in the scorching sun at Gangra Primary School in Nandigram.

He had come to the polling booth with his 106-year-old aunt around 11am. In two hours, the queue had hardly moved.

Jiban’s aunt Sneha Bala was perched on a cycle van partly shaded by a tree. But she could not bear the heat too long.

Barely 50 metres away stood Parbati Midda, busy organising women who were jumping the queue and entering the polling station “to vote”.

Parbati denied helping jam booths. “I am helping these women because Trinamul Congress supporters had asked them not to come to vote. My party has given me the responsibility to ensure that village women can vote peacefully,” she said.

Out of about 800 voters, only 80 had voted in four hours. Most of those in the queue refused to give their names.

Booth jamming was also reported from Gokulnagar, Rainagar, Jamboni, Brindabanchowk, Maheshpur, Simulkundu, Bhangabera, Sonachura, Jalpai, Kalicharanpur and Kendamari in Nandigram.

Poll panel secretary S.N. Roy Chowdhury said over 90 per cent polling was reported from Nandigram. “At 5pm, people were still in the queue,” he added.

At a primary school in Purba Jalpai village, Kajal Das had arrived at 6am, so that she could vote early and return home to cook. “At 6, there were about 100 people in front of me. Now it is noon and I have still not been able to vote,” said Kajal, 45.

Khalek Mullick, 40, had a similar story to tell at Garchakraberia Vidyapith.

CPM state secretary Biman Bose tried to explain the “slow” polling. “First, most newly literate voters insisted on signing the ballot papers, which took time. Second, there were three sets of ballots for the three-tier elections. Third, a number of polling personnel were non-Bengali and there was some language problem.”

Violence was also reported from the other districts that went to polls.

Home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said ballot papers were snatched from six booths in Burdwan, West Midnapore and Bankura. Repolling will take place in at least 11 booths on May 13.

“In Manteswar, Burdwan, all 450 ballot papers were snatched from Fakirchand Free Primary School,” said the poll panel secretary.

In Contai, East Midnapore, four Trinamul supporters were attacked with sticks and rods. In Burdwan’s Jhilu II gram panchayat , suspected CPM supporters hurled bombs at Trinamul panchayat samiti candidate Rezaul Haque. He has been hospitalised. Two CPM and three Congress supporters were injured in Katwa.

In West Midnapore’s Belpahari, a steel can embedded in a road triggered a landmine scare and held up the start of polling by an hour. It was a false alarm.