Top News

During the second and final phase of voting for the assembly elections in West Bengal, reports of violence and tension are coming from many places on Wednesday (April 29). In the second phase, about 39.97 percent voting has been recorded on 142 seats from 7 am to 11 am. The main contest in this election is between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Long queues were seen in various parts of the state as soon as voting began, raising expectations of high turnout. Earlier, in the first phase held on April 23, there was a record 93.17 percent voting.

However, incidents of violence, vandalism and hooliganism have been reported from many places during the voting process. An incident of attack on a BJP polling agent has come to light in Nadia district. According to BJP leaders, a BJP polling agent was beaten with rods by goons affiliated with TMC, claiming to be a person trying to attack him with a weapon.

BJP’s camp office has been vandalized in the same district, due to which tension has spread in the area. At the same time, in South 24 Parganas, an ISF agent was accused of being stopped from entering the polling booth, after which a situation of uproar broke out there too.

Voting was disrupted for some time in Bally assembly constituency of Howrah due to a malfunction in the EVM machine. Angered by this, voters protested. Central forces later intervened and controlled the situation and two people were detained, after which voting resumed.

This phase of South Bengal is considered very important from the political point of view, because this region has been a strong stronghold of TMC for the last 15 years. BJP has strengthened its hold here, which has dealt a blow to Trinamool. This region includes districts like Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly and East Bardhaman.

In this phase, competition is also being seen on many high-profile seats. There is a direct contest between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Bhawanipur seat, which is being considered as the biggest contest of the elections.

Apart from this, tough contests are also taking place on various seats, prominent among which are Tollygunge, Bidhannagar, Panihati and Kolkata Port. For the BJP, this phase is an opportunity to test its chances of coming to power in the state, while for the TMC, maintaining its hold in South Bengal is considered important in its attempt to form the government for the fourth time.

The voting process will be completed by evening, while the final results of the elections will be declared on May 4.

Terrorist Mohammed Shariq sentenced to only 10 years rigorous imprisonment in Mangaluru cooker blast case

Stir before elections: Election Commission transfers Joint BDO of Falta

Measles outbreak in Bangladesh: Over 250 dead