Kolkata: Over 84 lakh voters in West Bengal will determine the political destiny of 283 candidates on Thursday, when 35 meeting constituencies go to polls in the eighth and final phase, amid a raging second wave of COVID-19.
All eyes will probably be on Trinamool Congress Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal as he’s beneath the strict surveillance of the Election Commission.
Mondal has been positioned beneath surveillance until Friday at 7 am, because the chief electoral officer in the state has acquired “several complaints against him”, an EC official stated.
The TMC chief was positioned beneath comparable surveillance through the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2016 meeting polls.
Security measures have been heightened in view of the violence in the earlier phases, significantly the loss of life of 5 folks in Cooch Behar in the fourth spherical of polling on April 10, the official stated.
The ballot panel has determined to deploy a minimum of 641 firms of central forces, together with 224 in Birbhum district, in the eighth phase to guarantee free and honest voting, he stated.
Voting will probably be held at 11,860 polling stations unfold over 11 meeting constituencies every in Murshidabad and Birbhum, six in Malda and 7 in Kolkata.
Two TMC ministers – Shashi Panja and Sadhan Pandey – are contesting from Shyampukur and Maniktala seats in north Kolkata respectively.
Three-cornered contests are anticipated in lots of the 17 constituencies in Malda and Murshidabad districts the place the Left-Congress-ISF mix has a stronghold aside from the TMC and the BJP.
The ballot panel may also put in place measures to guarantee strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols through the voting course of, the official stated.
Campaigning for the eighth and final phase 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.
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.
Leaders of political events selected both the digital platform or small street-corner conferences for campaigning, which ended on April 26 night.
TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of mishandling the second wave of COVID-19 and offering insufficient vaccines to the state.
BJP president J P Nadda denied Baneree’s allegations and attacked her for not attending the essential conferences convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to focus on the COVID state of affairs.
The counting of votes will happen on May 2.
