May 3: The fourth phase of elections ended today in many ways like the first three with most districts recording higher turnouts, exit polls predicting Left majority and the poll panel facing protests for denying voting rights to many.

Unhappy over the repeated complaints, deputy election commissioner Anand Kumar came down heavily on officials associated with the revision of electoral rolls, during which the names of several thousand genuine voters were struck off.

At Behrampore this afternoon, Kumar, having received a slew of complaints, said: “This is the fourth phase and we are receiving the same complaints. The officials who were associated with the revision of rolls had enough time but still there had been negligence on their part while cleaning the rolls.”

Citing an example of the “negligence”, he said in Calcutta’s Salt Lake, an entire family was struck off the voters’ list. “The officials concerned went on an inspection to the house. But they only spoke to the house owner and not to the tenants, who were all genuine voters. We have received similar complaints from elsewhere also. We will carry out an inquiry and those found guilty will be punished.”

At Nonadanga village in Khargram constituency, which the CPM holds, names of 54 genuine voters had been deleted. Four voters were denied their right in Behrampore.

“They should lodge complaints with the DM or me immediately,” Kumar said.

Officials said the turnout figure, which was 76 per cent till 5 pm, could cross 80 per cent as polling in many booths continued till late night.

Kumar toured all three districts ? Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad ? that went to the polls today.

When he entered a booth in Khandagosh, Burdwan, with the district magistrate and superintendent of police around 1, a young man was sitting with the polling agents. He turned out to be a water carrier officiating as an agent.

“Although he claimed innocence, he has been arrested for trying to influence the poll process,” Kumar said.

Three others were arrested in Burdwan ? one in Kulti after paramilitary jawans found him canvassing for votes near a polling station and another, who was distributing some papers among polling agents at a booth, in Purbasthali.

At Bhatar, a polling agent was replaced and detained following allegations that he was telling voters which party to vote for.

Twenty-three people were arrested in Murshidabad, the district superintendent of police said. One of them, held in Kandi, was giving out food coupons bearing symbols of a party to voters.

Kumar was also at Nanoor in Birbhum, which saw a spiral of political violence ahead of the 2001 polls.

Asked why a booth at Suchpur in Nanoor had only a CPM polling agent and none from the Opposition parties, Kumar said it was a political issue and the commission could not do anything about it.