7-phase poll to help those with money power: TMC

Trinamul Congress has objected to the sevenphase Lok Sabha elections for 42 seats in West Bengal, as announced by the Election Commission. The TMC’s objection came after the poll body released the nationwide poll schedule in New Delhi on Saturday.

State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya claimed, “We repeatedly had sought the LS polls to be held in one or two phases in Bengal, because we found that the polls in minimum phases increase the voter turnout and help people to cast their votes freely. Still, the number of phases has been stretched to seven.”

She also pointed out, “If there are multiple phases, voter turnout drops like it happened in 2019, compared to its previous occasion. It is also against federal structure, as it helps those, who have the money power to mobilise their funds fully by utilising the time they get out of multiple phases.”

Ms Bhattacharya added, “On the other hand, many bigger states are going to have one phase poll. There was no need to hold the LS polls here in seven phases.”

Among the 42 seats in Bengal, three seats each will go to the first two phases. These are Coochbehar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri on April 19 and Darjeeling, Raiganj and

Balurghat on April 26. The third phase on May 4 will cover Malda North, Malda South, Murshidabad and Jangipur. On May 13, Berhampore, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Bardhaman Purba, Bardhaman–Durgapur, Asansol, Bolpur, Birbhum– will go to polls in the fourth round, followed by Bongaon, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore, Hooghly and Arambagh– in the fifth phase on May 20.

While the sixth phase on May 25 will cover Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura and Bishnupur, the seventh and final round will have Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Joynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, Kolkata Uttar on June 1.

STATE FINANCE minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said, ‘We had sought the LS polls to be held in one or two phases in Bengal.’