Over 86 lakh voters in West Bengal will resolve the political destiny of 284 candidates on Monday, when 34 meeting constituencies, together with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s house turf Bhabanipur, go to polls in the seventh part, amid a raging second wave of COVID-19. Security measures have been heightened in view of the violence in the earlier phases, notably the demise of 5 folks in Cooch Behar in the fourth spherical of polling on April 10, an Election Commission official mentioned.
The ballot panel has determined to deploy at the least 796 firms of central forces in the seventh part to guarantee free and truthful voting, he mentioned. It can even put in place measures to guarantee strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols through the voting course of, the official mentioned.
West Bengal on Saturday registered its highest-single- day spike of 14,281 coronavirus instances, which took the tally to 7,28,061, and at the least 59 extra folks succumbed to the an infection, pushing the toll to 10,884. Voting will likely be held at 12,068 polling stations unfold over 9 meeting constituencies every in Murshidabad and Paschim Bardhaman districts, six every in Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda and 4 in Kolkata, the official mentioned.
All eyes will likely be on the Bhabanipur constituency, of which the TMC supremo is the sitting MLA and a resident. Banerjee, nevertheless, has opted for Nandigram to contest the elections this time and reposed religion in veteran politician and state energy minister Sobhandeb (*34*) to make a hat-trick of wins for the get together from Bhabanipur.
(*34*) is pitted in opposition to a seasoned actor however a greenhorn in electoral politics, Rudranil Ghosh, who left the ruling get together a number of months in the past to be part of the BJP. State minister Firhad Hakim can be searching for re-election for a 3rd consecutive time period from the Kolkata Port constituency, whereas the BJP fielded Lt General (Retired) Subrata Saha from the Rashbehari seat in the metropolis.
Campaigning for the seventh part has been a low-key affair, following curbs imposed by the EC in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 instances in the state. Following the surge in coronavirus instances throughout the nation, the EC has banned roadshows and automobile rallies in the state and famous that the COVID security norms had been being flouted in West Bengal throughout campaigning.
It additionally disallowed any public assembly with greater than 500 folks. The Election Commission has curtailed day by day marketing campaign hours and prolonged the “silence interval” from 48 hours to 72 in each of the remaining three phases of the assembly polls in view of the Cooch Behar violence and the rising COVID-19 cases.
The TMC chief and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is the party MP, cancelled all their scheduled rallies and held them on the virtual platform as did Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 23. Polling for two assembly seats in Samserganj and Jangipur in Murshidabad district has been declared void following the deaths of two candidates there.
The Election Commission has fixed May 16 for the polling in these two seats.
Read all of the Latest News and Breaking News right here
