Hyderabad, April 23 -- Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao on Thursday commented on the ongoing West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, expressing hope for a peaceful polling process and higher voter turnout.

Referring to the election phase underway, he said, "The first phase of the West Bengal elections, and also the single-phase elections for Tamil Nadu today, are being held. We hope that the turnout will be good and there will be peaceful elections, especially in Bengal, because people are afraid to come out and vote freely."

He further added confidence in the election arrangements made by the Election Commission of India (ECI), saying, " I'm sure that the ECI has made arrangements to see that no untoward incident happens...