Second phase voting of West Bengal and Assam Assembly begins today, the 1st of April. In West Bengal 30 constituencies would conduct elections and in Assam elections are underway for 39 seats.
Amid the ongoing polling, respective state police tightened security for smooth and peaceful conduct of elections. The voting started at 7:00 A.M., and would continue till 5:00 P.M. Close to 7.3 million voters will exercise their franchise today to decide the fate of 191 candidates contesting the polls.
Districts of South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur are slated to vote on the 1st of April. Of all districts, special attention is at the Nandigram Assembly constituency. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Suvendu Adhikari and Trinamool Congress’s Mamata Banerjee are the two Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) candidates in Nandigram Assembly constituency. The constituency gained attention after the recent switch of Suvendu Adhikari, the sitting MLA of Nandigram to the BJP. Mr. Adhikari, who was a TMC member, switched to the opposition and is contesting against Mamata Banerjee. In Nandigram there are 355 polling booths, around 22 companies of central forces to supervise, have been deployed.
Apart from Nandigram, another high profile seat is the Debra constituency where BJP has fielded former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh against TMC member and ex IPS Officer Humayun Kabir.
Meanwhile, acting upon the allegations of the TMC and the BJP of external forces which could create disturbance, the Election Commission of India (ECI) imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in and around all polling stations in Nandigram and East Midnapore districts.
This year, West Bengal elections have huge significance as the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to mark its victory in the State.
The BJP campaigned aggressively with big national leaders like Amit Shah, J.P. Nadda, Manoj Tiwari and others in the State. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress is also on their toes to win for the third time.
The 8 phased West Bengal Elections would continue till the 29th of April and results would be announced on the 2nd of May.
