Phase IV: Candidates sweat it out on last day of campaigning

Braving the scorching heat, candidates and workers of all political parties left no stone unturned in reaching to the voters on the last day of the election campaign. The fourth phase of election will be held in Howrah and North 24-Parganas on April 25. 

Trinamool Congress candidates and workers initiated the election campaign soon after the Election Commission announced the election dates as the party’s candidate list was declared on the same day.

It kept Trinamool Congress ahead of all the other political parties in terms of the election campaign in all the 16 and 33 Assembly constituencies in Howrah and North 24-Parganas.

Since Saturday morning many Trinamool Congress candidates in both the South Bengal districts were found busy in road shows in order to reach more number of people within a short time. On the other hand, a major section of the party workers were busy in door-to-door campaigning.

In Howrah, the heavyweight candidates of Trinamool Congress including Rajib Banerjee from Domjur Assembly constituency, Arup Roy from Central Howrah and Vaishali Dalmiya from Bally Assembly seat led to maha michil (grand rallies) in their respective area. In a bid to woo maximum votes, the candidates and top leaders from the district marched in the 4 to 5 km long procession.

The scene was quite similar in the North 24-Parganas, the party’s candidate from Habra Assembly constituency Jyotipriyo Mallick, Bratya Basu from Dum Dum, Sujit Bose from Bidhannagar, Chiranjit Chakraborty from Barasat, Subhrangshu Roy from Bijpur and footballer turned politician Dipendu Biswas, who is Trinamool Congress candidate from Basirhat Dakshin Assembly seat, were also busy in campaigning.

Trinamool Congress has been successful in rehabilitating the folk artists of the state. Thus, the party workers had been engaging Chhau and Raibeshi artists in various rallies of the party. Thousands of party workers were found shouting slogans seeking people to cast votes in favour of their party.

A major portion of both the districts were once the bastion of CPI(M), but with the change of the guard in the state Trinamool Congress is now having a solid ground in all the 49 Assembly seats in the districts. Other political parties were also found campaigning to woo voters.

All the political parties could hold rallies till late Saturday evening. It was their last chance to make an impression on the people.

The frequency of auto-rickshaws and totos moving around with the campaigning party workers went up manifold on Saturday afternoon. The party workers in these small vehicles moved inside the narrow lanes and continued their campaigning there.