EC issues notification for 5th phase of WB polls

Election Commission on Monday issued notification for the fifth phase of West Bengal Assembly polls.

Polling to the 53 constituencies in Kolkata, South 24 Parganas and Hooghly in the penultimate phase of the six-phase long elections will be held on April 30.

The last date for filing nominations is April 11, while scrutiny will be held on April 12 and the candidates can withdraw from the electoral race till April 16.

Heavyweights like Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, her ministers Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee and Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee will file their nominations in this phase.

Former CPI(M) leader Abdur Razzak Molla has also been fielded by Trinamool Congress from Bhangar seat who will join the fray in this phase. Star candidates include actress Debashree Roy, singer Indranil Sen and footballer Syed Rahman Nabi. Meanwhile, amid demands by Opposition parties in West Bengal for removal of Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar, the Election Commission on Monday said the issue is under its consideration and a decision in this regard will be conveyed at an appropriate time.