Assembly polls 2021: Over 1.54 cr electors to cast vote in West Bengal, Assam tomorrow; steps to locate polling station

The biggest electoral exercise since the onset of the pandemic will begin on Saturday, with the first phase of polls commencing in West Bengal and Assam. Over 1.54 crore voters in both the states combined will be able to exercise their franchise on Saturday.

A total of four states and one Union Territory, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, will go to the polls from 27 March to 29 April.

West Bengal

In West Bengal, more than 73 lakh voters will decide the fate of 191 candidates across 30 Assembly segments, most of which are in the former Maoist-affected Jungle Mahal region.

The elections will be held amid tight security with the Election Commission deploying around 684 companies of central forces that would guard 10,288 polling stations housed in 7,061 premises, PTI reported.

In the first phase, polling will take place amid strict guidelines 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.

Assam

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Speaker Hitendranath Goswami, and Assam state Congress chief Ripun Borah, and several cabinet ministers from the ruling BJP and Asom Gana Parishad, will be in the fray in 47 of the state's 126 Assembly seats.

The Election Commission has set up 1,1537 polling stations in Assembly constituencies that will go to polls in the first phase.

How to locate your polling station

The most basic unit of the electoral process in India is the polling station, where eligible citizens go to vote for their preferred candidate. To locate your polling station, voters may use the services of the Voter Helpline App developed by the Election Commission for this purpose.

Voters can also log on to the official website of the Election Commission — electoralsearch.in — to search for their polling station. Voters can access the page using this direct link.

The voter helpline number 1950 will also help voters locate polling station. You can call this number after adding the STD code (011 in this case) or get the details by sending an SMS to 1950 with <ECIP011> space <YourEPICNo>.

Additionally, the electoral roll also has the exact address, Google location and photographs of the polling station.

A polling station, however, should not be confused with a polling booth as the latter is set up by candidates or parties to help electors identify the candidates and parties, and offer assistance in locating their polling stations.

As per rules polling booths are set up beyond a distance of 200 meters from the polling stations.

With inputs from PTI