The first of the five-phased panchayat polls has begun in West Bengal after weeks of legal dispute, with lakhs of voters across three districts voting to choose representatives for over 10,200 seats.

Elections are being held after the Supreme Court refused to reschedule the poll dates which the West Bengal government said, were clashing with the month of Ramzan.

The districts that will witness polling on Thursday include West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura, which together comprise Junglmahal. Voting will be done for the three-tier rural bodies – gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zilla parishad.

Security has been tightened across the three districts with over 48,000 central and state forces deployed to ensure smooth voting.