West Bengal will vote in eight phases beginning March 27. Polling for phase-I will take place on March 27 (Saturday), phase-II on April 1, phase-III on April 6, phase-IV on April 10, phase-V on April 17, phase-VI on April 22, phase-VII on April 26 and phase-VIII on April 29.
The counting of votes will take place on May 2. While multiple alliances and parties are in the fray, the key fight is between chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party for a majority in the 294-member House.
Number of Polling Stations
West Bengal – 1,01,916
30 Constituencies going to polls in Phase-1 on March 27 (Saturday)
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Patashpur
Kanthi Uttar
Bhagabanpur
Khejuri
Kanthi Dakshin
Ramnagar
Egra
Dantan
Nayagram
Gopiballavpur
Jhargram
Keshiary
Kharagpur
Garbeta
Salboni
Medinipur
Binpur
Bandwan
Balarampur
Baghmundi
Joypur
Purulia
Manbazar
Kashipur
Para
Raghunathpur
Saltora
Chhatna
Ranibandh
Raipur
Key constituencies and candidates
Purulia: Sujoy Banerjee (TMC) vs Sudip Mukherjee (BJP) vs Partha Prathim Banerjee (Congress)
Kharagpur: Dinen Ray (TMC) vs Tapan Bhuiya (BJP) vs Sk. Saddam Ali (CPIM)
Kanthi Uttar: Tarun Kumar Jana (TMC) vs Sunita Singha (BJP) vs Sutanu Maity (CPIM)
Medinipur: June Malia (TMC) vs Shamit Dash (BJP) vs Tarun Kumar Ghosh (CPIM)
Baghmundi: Sushanta Mahato (TMC) vs Ashutosh Mahato (AJSU) vs Nepal Mahata (Congress)
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Kanthi Dakshin: Jyotirmoy Kar (TMC) vs Arup Kumar Das (BJP) vs Anulup Panda (CPIM)
Identification of Voters at Polling Stations:
MNREGA Job Card
Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office
Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of
Labour
Driving License
PAN Card
Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR
Indian Passport
Pension document with photograph
Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by
Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies, and
Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs.
Covid Guidelines for safe election:
– Every person shall wear a face mask during every election-related activity.
– At the entry of hall/ room/ premises used for election purposes: (a) Thermal Scanning of all persons shall be carried out; (b) Sanitizer shall be made available at all locations.
– Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant Covid-19 guidelines of the State Govt. and Ministry of Home Affairs.
– As far as practicable, large halls should be identified and utilized to ensure social distancing norms.
– Adequate number of vehicles shall be mobilized for the movement of polling personnel, security personnel to ensure compliance with Covid-19 guidelines.
The BJP is contesting 293 seats while it has left 1 seat for its alliance partner All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) headed by Ashutosh Mahto. The TMC, on the other hand, is contesting 290 seats while it has given three seats to Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which has presence in hilly regions of North Bengal. The Third Front is led by the Left and Congress. The Left is fighting on 137 seats while Congress is contesting on 91 and Abbas Siddiqui’s Indian Secular Front on 28.
