The second phase of the Assembly elections has started from 1st April and the high-stakes phase of the Assembly elections will witness a very intense contest between huge political individuals of the nation. The second phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal began on April 1, 2021. As per the data by Election Commission, 75,94,594 people were eligible to vote in the Phase 2 of Vidhan Sabha Elections in West Bengal. Out of the total 39,49,165 were males, and 36,45,348 were females. Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab told that the Commission has recorded a voter turnout of 86.11% in the second phase of polling held in 30 assembly constituencies spread across the four districts. After the second phase of polling was over the CEO’s office had stated that 80.43% of 75.94 lakh voters exercised their permission. At the Nandigram constituency, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been in a political war with Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, who polled 88.01% of votes.
A restructured figure was released by the Election Office. The second phase was of 30 constituencies, out of which nine seats are in the East Medinipur district. Among these, Nandigram is one of the crucial constituencies as the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee is in the clash with other politicians. The total number of polling booths in Nandigram was 355. Out of which, 278 are main and 77 were auxiliary polling stations. Webcasting facility was also available in 278 booths. The total figure of voters was 2,57,156, in which, male voters were 1,33,258 and female voters were 1,23,898. All the booths which were being used for the second phase were declared as sensitive by the Elections Commission. Only 2000 central forces officials were deployed for Nandigram, and around 22 quick response teams were also there to immediately stop any kind of chaos. Apart from Nandigram other significant constituencies are Tamluk, Panskumar Purba, Moyna, Nandakumar, Mahisadal, Chandipur, Halidia. In west Medinipur, constituencies polls are Kharagpur Sadar, Narayangarh, Sabang, Pingla, Debra, Daspur, Ghatal, Chandrakona, and Keshpur. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Haldia in Purba Medinipur district, Avneet Punia, declared in accordance with specific directions of the Elections Commission and in the likelihood of violence, breach of peace, and unwarranted incidents, Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed from 6:30 pm on 30th March to 2nd April.
Another crucial district in this competition for the second phase is South 24 Parganas, the district contains 31 Assembly constituencies in total and is known as a TMC stronghold. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) managed to win 29 of 31 seats in the South 24 Parganas. But BJP has similarly left no stones unturned during the election campaign in these areas. The promises that BJP made during the election campaign are similarly endless, from gathering people who were angry on cyclone amphan relief to making Gangasagar I, Trinamool Congress and BJP supporters clashed overcharge in the region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will once again be in Assam and West Bengal to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party. Recently, he likewise took a dig at Mamata Banerjee, asking if she was already planning to contest elections from a different seat. Responding to Modi, Banerjee said she was not a member of the BJP that she would accept the prime minister’s suggestion. “I have contested from Nandigram and will win from there,” she told NDTV.
The two states will see the third phase of voting on 6 April. While the third phase will mark the end of the voting process in Assam, Bengal will see another five phases before the outcomes. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry will similarly go to polls on the 6th of April, all in a single phase. The prime minister addressed the nation and recently took public meetings at Tarakeshwar, followed by Sonarpur. This is the second time in three days that Modi will be in Assam and Bengal, where the BJP is taking on the Congress-All India United Democratic Fund (AIUDF) alliance and TMC respectively. In the middle of all the chaos, Mamata Banerjee now has claimed that some people were creating a disturbance in the election process, and these people are being protected by the central forces. All these moves by the political parties will be massive deciding factors for the reasonable chance of Assembly elections in India.
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Reference:
- www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
- www.ndtv.com