Voting for the second phase of the eight-phase assemble election in West Bengal began this morning in 30 of the state’s 294 constituencies amid elaborate security arrangements.
Polling for the second phase will be will held across four districts and 30 assembly seats. The districts include Bankura Part II, East Midnapore Part II, West Midnapore Part II and South 24 Parganas Part I on April 1.
The thirty Assembly Constituencies of West Bengal going to polls in the second phase are: 1 Gosaba (SC) 2 - Patharpratima 3 - Kakdwip 4 - Sagar 5- Tamluk 6 - Panskura Purba 7 - Panskura Paschim 8 - Moyna 9- Nandakumar 10 - Mahisadal 11 - Haldia (SC) 12- Nandigram 13 - Chandipur 14 - Kharagpur Sadar 15 - Narayangarh 16 - Sabang 17 - Pingla 18 - Debra 19 - Daspur 20 - Ghatal (SC) 21 - Chandrakona (SC) 22 - Keshpur (SC) 23 - Taldangra 24 - Bankura 25 - Barjora 26 - Onda 27 - Bishnupur 28 - Katulpur (SC) 29 - Indus (SC) 30 - Sonamukhi (SC).
The fate of 171 candidates in which 19(11%) are female candidates will be decided in the second phase by 75,94,549 voters who will exercise their franchise in 10,620 polling booths spread across the 30 constituencies, the Election Commission sources said.
The EC has made elaborate security arrangements with the deployment of central and state forces to ensure a free fair and peaceful poll.
All the booths where polling is going on in the second phase have been declared as "sensitive" by the EC.
The Election Commission on Wednesday issued Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC imposed in Nandigram of west Bengal ahead of second phase polling.
“Sec 144 CrPC imposed in East Midnapore till April 2. Assembly of 5 or more persons, excluding people on election duty and voters entitled to vote in designated polling stations is prohibited within 200 meters of polling premises,” Sub-divisional Magistrate, Haldia, East Midnapore in a statement said.
“No cellular/cordless phone, wireless sets shall be allowed within 100 meters of the polling premises except by persons on election duty,” the statement added.
The EC deployed a total of 651 companies of Central Armed Police for this phase of the election.
A total of 199 companies of CAPF has been deployed in Purba Medinipur, 210 companies in Paschim Medinipur, 170 in South 24 Parganas and 72 in Bankura, the sources said.
The Election Commission, which has already warned that any act of violence would not be tolerated during elections time, has reiterated with a fresh warning and has empowered the security forces to act in self-defence in case of any threat to their life by the miscreants during the second phase polls in the state.
The EC's fresh warning came after bomb attacks on Patashpur police station officer Dipak Chakraborty and central force personnel at Arwalm village in East Medinipur district on March 26, a few hours before the first phase polling.
If the situation demanded then the poll duty personnel could use weapons to drive away from the attackers, a source in the EC said on Tuesday.
Bharatiya Janata Party and ruling AITC are contesting for all the 30 seats while Congress, Left parties and their alliance partner Indian Secular Front are fighting under the banner of Sanyukt Morcha. CPI (M) has fielded 15 candidates, Congress has nine, BSP seven, CPI two and AIFB and RSP one each while there are 32 independents along with 44 others are also in the fray.
Nandigram is one of the key constituencies in Purba Medinipur district where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in the fray. BJP has fielded her erstwhile lieutenant Shubhendu Adhikari in this seat while youth leader of CPI(M) Minakshi Mukherjee is contesting as the Sanyukt Morcha candidate.
The contest for the Debra seat has out turned out to be interesting with two former officers of the Indian Police Service — Humayun Kabir of Trinamool Congress and Bharati Ghosh of the BJP — competing against each other. The TMC had won this seat in 2016.
Another seat to look out for is Bankura where the TMC has fielded actor Sayantika Banerjee where BJP had a lead in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. She is up against Niladri Sekhar Dana of the BJP.
In Kharagpur Sadar. BJP has fielded actor Hiranmay Chattopadhyay against Pradip Sarkar of TMC.
In Sagar on the southernmost tip of West Bengal, three-time TMC MLA Bamkim Chandra Hazra is facing BJP newcomer Bikash Chandra Kamila.
In the politically charged state, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Prime Minister Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are locked in a bitter contest this time.
The TMC headed by two-time Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is striving hard to score a hat-trick. The BJP is also leaving no stone unturned to make sure lotus blooms in the state.
The third front has the CPI-M and Congress entering into a seat-sharing arrangement, and this combination is also trying to align with the ISF.
The politics in West Bengal has largely been dominated by Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). For nearly 40 years, since 1980, the state remained isolated from national politics. The local narrative has always been ruled by Leftist ideologies.
In 2011, Mamta Banerjee broke this trend and has ruled the state for 10 consecutive years. Now, the TMC is eyeing to withhold its power for the third straight term in the state. The CPI(M), which is contesting with Congress has gradually started fading in the state since 2011.
It is for the first-time when Modi-led Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has hogged the limelight in the state. The BJP is aiming to make a debut as the ruling party in Bengal. If the BJP comes to power, then this 2021 assembly election will be remembered for bringing a paradigm shift in the political narrative of West Bengal.
The campaign was marked by a war of words among the ruling Trinamool Congress, the BJP and the Left-Congress-ISF combine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Cabinet Ministers Smriti Irani, Nitin Gadkari, Dharmendra Pradhan, Babul Supriyo, Uttar Pradesh/Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, West Bengal BJP in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh and veteran Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty were the star campaigners for BJP.
Actors-turned-politicians such as Locket Chatterjee, Roopa Ganguly, Srabanti Chatterjee, Paayel Sarkar and Hiran Chatterjee have also campaigned for the BJP
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Youth Congress president Abhishek Banerjee, state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and senior Left leaders campaigned for their respective fronts.
West Bengal assembly election is going to be a high stake event as both BJP and TMC have unleashed challenge against each other.
Even months before the polls, BJP has been aggressively campaigning in the state, targeting the incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government.
Several big names of the TMC have left their party and joined BJP ahead of the election, questioning the conduct of the Mamata Banerjee led state government.
Names like Suvendu Adhikari, Rajib Banerjee, Baishali Dalmiya, former Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty and actor Rudranil Ghosh, others have joined the BJP ahead of elections.
The campaign was characterised by a no-holds-barred tirade of allegations and counter-allegations and ruling Trinamool Congress going all out to retain power for the third successive term.
The Trinamool Congress chief called upon the people to defeat the BJP while the Prime Minister urged voters to exercise their franchise in his party's favour.
The assembly election in West Bengal will be held in eight phases. The voting will take place in eight phases--on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29.
The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Source - UNI
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