West Bengal Elections: Campaigning Ends for Second Phase, Voting on 29 April for 142 Seats

KOLKATA: Campaigning for the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded on Monday evening at 6 PM, with the 48-hour silence period began.

In the campaigning, the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP accused each other fiercely on issues such as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, infiltration, corruption, unemployment, and other matters, while making various attractive promises to voters. The first phase of polling in Bengal saw a record 93.19% voter turnout.

In the second phase, voting will take place in 142 Assembly constituencies. A total of 3,21,73,837 voters are eligible to vote, including 1,64,35,627 men, 1,57,37,418 women, and 792 third-gender voters. A total of 41,001 polling stations have been set up. All polling stations will be webcast live.

The Election Commission has claimed extensive security arrangements for the second phase and has deployed 2,407 companies of central forces across seven districts.

A total of 142 general observers, 95 police observers, and 100 expenditure observers have been appointed. Officials said drones equipped with cameras will also be used to monitor the election process. Kolkata has the highest deployment with 273 companies of central forces.

The 142 seats in this phase include areas from Nadia, Purba Bardhaman, Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Kolkata.

Polling will be conducted under tight security. A total of 1,448 candidates are in the fray across these seats.

As per an Election Commission initiative, this time the EVMs and ballot papers feature colour photographs of candidates, along with their serial numbers, names, and symbols in large letters for the convenience of voters.

Bhabanipur — The Hottest Seat: Direct Fight Between Mamata and Suvendu

Among the constituencies going to polls in this phase, Bhangar has the highest number of candidates (19), while Goghat has the lowest (5). Prominent candidates whose fate will be decided include Mamata Banerjee herself.

Mamata is contesting again from Bhabanipur, where she faces a tough challenge from BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.In Kolkata Port, senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim is contesting against BJP candidate Rakesh Singh. This minority-dominated constituency is considered important for the ruling party in central Kolkata.

Other key seats include Bhatpara, Jagatdal, Barrackpore, Bongaon, Dum Dum, Sandeshkhali, Hingalganj, Ranaghat North, Ranaghat South, Rashbehari, Jadavpur, and Beliaghata.BJP Deploys Its Full ForceDuring the intense campaign, BJP leaders accused Trinamool Congress of turning West Bengal into a hub for infiltrators.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP is engaged in divisive politics and is discouraging the consumption of fish and eggs.On the last day of campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed his final rally in Jagatdal, North 24 Parganas.

He claimed that he would return next month to attend the oath-taking ceremony of West Bengal’s first BJP Chief Minister.

Home Minister Amit Shah participated in a road show in Behala, South 24 Parganas. He asserted that central security forces would remain deployed in the state for a long time after the 4 May vote counting to prevent any possible violence.

BJP deployed its top leaders — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, and several other Chief Ministers and Union Ministers — who attacked TMC on issues like deterioration of law and order, rising crimes against women, political violence, infiltration, and corruption.

Addressing various rallies, Amit Shah said that if BJP comes to power in Bengal, it will form a special task force to stop cattle smuggling and end the so-called “goonda raj” and “syndicate raj”.

In one rally, Shah accused Mamata of helping smugglers and said, “After 5 May, we will form a special task force to stop cattle smuggling, protect cattle, and eliminate the cattle mafia.”

In response, senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of failing to fulfil its election promises, including “depositing ?15 lakh in every person’s bank account and creating 2 crore jobs every year.”

Mamata Banerjee concluded her campaign with a massive over 6-km-long road show in South Kolkata a few hours before campaigning ended. She was accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh, and candidates Arup Biswas (Tollygunj) and Debashish Kumar (Rashbehari).

The road show started from Sukant Setu in Jadavpur and ended at Gopalanagar Chowk after passing near her Kalighat residence.Mamata is contesting from Bhabanipur, where her main rival is BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who had defeated her from Nandigram in 2021. She later won the Bhabanipur bypoll.

Earlier, after the first phase on 23 April, Mamata claimed in a rally that her party had already crossed the 100-seat mark.

In a Bhabanipur rally, she said, “Voting took place on 152 seats in the first phase. We have already crossed 100 seats in the first phase itself.”

She also targeted Amit Shah over his comment about hanging TMC workers upside down after the elections. Mamata accused Election Commission-appointed officers of bias and warned them against excesses.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also campaigned for party candidates in the state. Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is contesting from Baharampur after a gap of 25 years.

Congress leader Rakesh Sinha said that TMC goons are threatening and murdering opposition voices. He claimed that the people of Bengal have now decided to remove both BJP and TMC from the state.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front and the All India Secular Front targeted both TMC and BJP, though their attacks were mostly focused on TMC. They alleged an understanding between TMC and BJP. Congress mainly targeted BJP. However, in his last rally last week, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that BJP and TMC are two sides of the same coin.

On the final day of campaigning, several incidents of violence were reported in South and North West Bengal. A TMC MP was attacked, and a CISF jawan was shot.

In Hooghly district, a car of Arambagh MP Mitali Bag was attacked by BJP workers while she was heading to a rally by Abhishek Banerjee. She was admitted to Arambagh Hospital.

Bag claimed she was attacked near the BJP office and sustained injuries when the car’s glass was shattered.

She alleged that despite being a woman and Dalit representative, she was targeted by “goons protected by fascist BJP”.

In another incident, late on Sunday night, a CISF jawan named Yogesh Sharma was injured in firing outside BJP candidate Pawan Singh’s residence in Bhatpara, North 24 Parganas.

He was shot in the leg and hospitalised. The Election Commission has sought a report on the incident. Police have arrested four people, including a TMC councillor.

Additionally, eight country-made bombs were recovered from a school premises designated as a polling station in Habra, creating panic in the area.

TMC accused BJP of planting bombs to disrupt polling, while BJP accused the ruling party of trying to intimidate voters. The Election Commission has also sought a report on this incident.Now, all eyes are on the second phase of polling on Wednesday across 142 seats in seven districts.

Campaigning for the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded on Monday evening at 6 PM, with the 48-hour silence period began.