PremiumPolling for the seventh phase of the West Bengal assembly elections began at 7 am on Monday even as the country continues to grapple with an alarming Covid-19 situation.
Over 86 lakh voters will decide the political fate of 284 candidates for 34 seats -- six constituencies in Dakshin Dinajpur, six in Malda, nine in Murshidabad, nine in Paschim Bardhaman and four in Kolkata.
Premium Over 81.88 lakh electorates, including 39.87 lakh women and 221 third gender persons, would be casting their votes at as many as 11,376 polling stations. Long queues were seen outside most polling booths on Monday where voting is underway adhering to Covid protocols.
Security measures for this phase have been tightened in view of the violence in the previous phases, particularly the death of five people in Cooch Behar in the fourth round of polling on 10 April, reported news agency PTI quoting election officials.
The poll panel has deployed at least 796 companies of central forces in the seventh phase to ensure free and fair voting.
It has also put in place measures to ensure strict adherence to health protocols during the election process, including wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.
Ahead of the polls, West Bengal had 81,375 active Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to the Union health ministry. As many as 10,884 people have lost their lives due to the deadly virus in the state.
The rapid upsurge of coronavirus had forced the Election Commission to prohibit roadshows, 'padyatras' and big public meetings in poll-bound West Bengal from Thursday evening.
Premium Premium In the seventh phase, from the Siliguri constituency, CPI(M)'s Ashok Bhattacharya is the key contestant against BJP candidate Shankar Ghosh and TMC's Omprakash Mishra. Bhattacharya, the former Mayor of Siliguri is a prominent communist leader in North Bengal.
Senior TMC leader and minister in the state government Bratya Basu is contesting from Dum Dum. CPI(M) has fielded Palash Das and BJP has fielded Bimal Shankar Nanda from the constituency.
Actor Chiranjeet Chakraborty will contest from Barasat on the behalf of TMC against BJP candidate Shankar Chatterjee and Forward Bloc candidate Sanjib Chattopadhyay.
Naxalbari, which is known for an over 50-year-old Maoist movement, has been witnessing a transition from a Red belt into a saffron fabric. While BJP has fielded Anandamoy Barman from the Matigara-Naxalbari constituency, Congress has fielded sitting MLA Sankar Malakar and TMC will rely on Captain Nalini Ranjan Ray. Malakar has been representing the Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly constituency since 2011.
In Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong constituencies, TMC has not fielded its candidate as GJM is backing the TMC.
West Bengal is going through an eight-phased assembly election this year. Polling for phases 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the state elections took place on 27 March, 1 April, 6 April, 10 April, 17 April and 22 April, respectively. Polling for the final phase is scheduled to be held on 29 April while the counting of votes will take place on 2 May.
With inputs from agencies.
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