Kolkata, April 20 -- There were sufficient reasons for the Election Commission of India to heave a big sigh of relief as the first round of elections for Bengal's three parliamentary constituencies of Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri passed off without any loss of life though reports of "stray incidents of clashes, stone-pelting or booth capture," came in from many areas.

Polling passed off peacefully amid stray incidents of violence and complaints of booth capture by both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, sources in the ECI said adding the three constituencies witnessed a brisk polling of about 77.5 percent till 5 pm. The polling percentage was likely to go beyond 82 percent as many voters were still standing in the queue.

Whil...