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More than 3.60 crore voters will vote

Kolkata. Voting began this morning in 152 assembly constituencies in the first phase of West Bengal assembly elections. Voting began at 7 am in districts ranging from Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri in the north to Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum and Hooghly in the south and queues of voters were seen outside the polling stations.

In the first phase, voting is taking place in more than half of the 294 assembly seats in the state. This is being considered as the biggest opportunity for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make an early lead and the biggest test for the ruling Trinamool Congress to return to power for the fourth consecutive time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to voters, especially youth and women, to vote in large numbers. Modi wrote on ‘X’, “Today is the first phase of assembly elections in West Bengal. I appeal to all citizens to participate with full force in this festival of democracy. I especially urge my young colleagues and the women of West Bengal to vote in large numbers. According to the Election Commission, more than 3.60 crore voters are eligible to vote in this phase, including about 1.75 crore women and 465 ‘third gender’ voters.

More than 8 thousand polling stations are sensitive

A record 2,450 contingents of central paramilitary forces, or about 2.5 lakh soldiers, have been deployed for the elections. More than 8,000 polling stations have been declared highly sensitive. The Election Commission has kept Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur, Cooch Behar, Birbhum and Purba Bardhaman districts under special surveillance.

BJP won 59 seats and Trinamool won 93 seats.

The first phase is politically important because it includes all the 54 seats of North Bengal. This region became the basis of BJP’s rise in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and was helpful in making it the main rival of Trinamool in the 2021 assembly elections. Out of these 152 seats, BJP had won 59 seats in 2021, while Trinamool had won 93 seats.

It is important for BJP to maintain dominance in North Bengal

It is important for BJP to maintain its dominance in North Bengal, so that it can remain competitive in the entire state. At the same time, for Trinamool led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, it is necessary to prevent BJP from a big victory in North Bengal, so that an environment of growth can be created before the second phase. This phase is also in special focus because before this a special intensive revision of the voter list was done, in which about 91 lakh names were removed from the voter list of the state.

Veteran candidates of the first phase

Many veteran candidates are in the fray in the first phase. The main candidates include Leader of Opposition Subhendu Adhikari (BJP) from Nandigram, former Union Minister Nishith Pramanik (BJP) from Mathabhanga, Minister of State Udayan Guha (Trinamool) from Dinhata, Gautam Dev (Trinamool) from Siliguri and Adhir Ranjan Choudhary (Congress) from Baharampur. The second phase of voting in the state will be held on April 29 and counting of votes will take place on May 4.

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