Polling in crucial Bengal, Assam to begin today
Over 7.3 mn voters in West Bengal and 8.1 mn in Assam will vote in first phase of assembly polls
KOLKATA/GUWAHATI: More than 7.3 million voters in West Bengal and over 8.1 million voters in Assam will vote in the first phase of the crucial assembly elections on Saturday, with a total of 455 candidates in the fray for 77 seats, amid strict Covid-19 guidelines.
As per the Election Commission of India’s (EC) schedule, while 47 assembly seats in Assam will go polls on Saturday, polling in West Bengal will cover 30 seats, most of which are in the once-Naxal- affected Jungle Mahal region.
While in Assam, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to retain power, the saffron party is pulling out all stops to wrest power from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal which it has never ruled.
In Bengal, the BJP and the ruling TMC, headed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, are spearheading intense election campaigns with the former deploying its enviable political machinery. Several Union ministers, MPs and other leaders recognised for their organisational and poll management skills have been roped in by the BJP to drive its campaign in the state, with special attention on seats which it considers winnable.
Polling will begin at 7 am and conclude at 6 pm, with the timing extended by an hour to ensure Covid-19 protocols are followed, officials said.
EC has deployed around 684 companies of central forces in Bengal that would guard 10,288 polling booths housed in 7,061 premises, officials said. As many as 191 candidates will fight for 30 assembly segments on Saturday.
In the first phase, polling will take place in all nine seats in
Purulia, four in Bankura, four in Jhargram and six in Paschim Medinipur, besides the seven seats in high-stakes Purba Medinipur — the home ground of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, the protégé-turned-political rival of CM Banerjee.
The TMC and BJP have fielded candidates in 29 seats each, while the Left-CongressIndian Secular Front alliance has put up candidates in all 30 seats.
The TMC is supporting an Independent in the Joypur assembly segment in Purulia as the nomination of its official candidate Ujjwal Kumar was rejected by the EC due to a discrepancy.
Jungle Mahal is tribal-dominated and the BJP made massive inroads in the region with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, winning all five constituencies — Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Medinipur and Bishnupur.
A total of 22,092 state police personnel will be deployed for the first phase, the EC official said.
In Jhargram, 11 paramilitary personnel will be deployed per booth, the highest for any election held in the state so far, officials said. “Declaring all 1,307 booths in 1,010 premises as Left Wing Extremist (LWE) areas in Jhargram, we have decided to deploy 127 companies of the central forces only for booth management,” an EC official said.
In Assam, the fate of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, speaker Hitendranath Goswami, state Congress chief Ripun Borah and a host of ministers will be decided on Saturday when polling is held in 47 of the state’s 126 assembly seats.
Most of these seats will likely witness triangular contest between the ruling BJP- Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) alliance, the Congress-led opposition grand alliance and the newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP).
Altogether 264 candidates, including 23 women, are in the fray. A little over 8.1 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 11,537 polling booths, including 1,917 auxiliary polling stations, which have been created to ensure strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols, state election officials said.
The ruling BJP is contesting 39 seats and its partner AGP 10. The opposition grand alliance is contesting all the seats, with the Congress putting up candidates in 43, and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha (contesting as Independent) in one each.
The newly formed AJP is in the fray in 41 seats.
Assam will have three-phase assembly elections on March 27, April 1 and 6. West Bengal will be voting in eight phases for 294 seats.
The votes will be counted on May 2.