West Bengal, Assam set for 1st phase polling today
Kolkata/Guwahati: Politically volatile states of West Bengal and Assam will go to polls in the first phase of Assembly elections on Saturday amid a resurgent COVID-19 crisis to decide the fate of a number of top politicians.
The Assembly elections to the two states apart from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry are the first, after the state polls in Bihar, to be held during the pandemic.
Polling will be held in 30 of the 294 constituencies of West Bengal and 47 of the 126 in Assam which together have 1.54 crore eligible voters who can exercise their franchise on Saturday.
The polling in West Bengal will likely witness a straight contest between the saffron party and the ruling TMC.
A staggering 684 companies of central paramilitary forces, each having about 100 men and officers, have been deployed to guard 10,288 polling booths housed in 7,061 premises, officials said. Thousands of state police personnel will also be positioned at vulnerable places to thwart attempts at vitiating the elections.
The first phase of poll in Assam will decide the fate of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Speaker Hitendranath Goswami, state Congress chief Ripun Borah and a host of ministers.
Most of these seats will likely witness triangular contest between the ruling BJP-AGP alliance, the Congress-led opposition grand alliance and the newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP).
West Bengal will have an eight-phase poll, while in Assam the exercise will be completed in three phases on March 27, April 1 and 6.
Altogether 264 candidates, including 23 women, are in the fray.
Central forces will assist the state police in maintaining law and order during the polling, a senior police officer said without divulging their numbers. The official said there will be enough security personnel to cover all polling stations.
In Assam, the ruling BJP is contesting 39 seats and its partner AGP 10. The two allies are engaged in friendly contest in Lakhimpur and Naharkatiya constituencies.
The grand alliance is contesting all the seats, with the Congress party putting up candidates in 43, and the AIUDF, CPI(ML-L), RJD and Anchalik Gana Morcha (contesting as Independent) in one each.
The newly formed AJP is in the fray in 41 seats, while there are 78 Independents, including 19 candidates of the newly formed Raijor Dal who are also contesting as Independents.
The first phase of polling in West Bengal will see voting in all the 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 turf of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
The TMC and BJP have fielded candidates in 29 seats each, while the Left-Congress-ISF alliance has put up its nominee in all 30 seats. "Friendly fights" will take place in some constituencies.
In Jhargram, 11 paramilitary personnel will be deployed per booth, the highest for any election held in the state so far, officials said. In the other districts, an average of six paramilitary personnel will be deployed at every
