Phase 2 Poll Today In TMC Areas Amid Voter Roll Row
Among the 142 constituencies, TMC had won 123 while BJP bagged only 18 and the remaining one went to the Indian Secular Front in the 2021 Assembly polls: Reports
Kolkata: The second phase of voting for West Bengal’s Assembly elections will be held on Wednesday in 142 seats in seven districts, which are known to be the bastion of ruling Trinamul Congress. The polls been hit by the deletion of about 91 lakh voter names as well as nearly 20 lakh unresolved cases in the special intensive revision (SIR).
Among the 142 constituencies, TMC had won 123 while BJP bagged only 18 and the Indian Secular Front one, in 2021. The first phase had seen a record turn-out of 93.2 per cent of voters, and the trend is expected to continue amid an unprecedented security blanket provided by 2,321 companies of Central paramilitary forces.
During the day, the Trinamul Congress moved the Calcutta High Court against Central police observer Ajay Pal Sharma, an UP cadre IPS officer, accusing him of threatening party candidate Jahangir Khan at Falta in South 24 Parganas. Justice Krishna Rao allowed the filing of the petition but refused to hear it citing the polling on Wednesday.
A video of the IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh, who is dubbed ‘Singham’ in UP for being an ‘encounter specialist’, went viral, showing him issuing an warning in filmi style against the Trinamul candidate’s muscle-flexing in front of Jahangir Khan’s house.
Khan, who was not present, later came face to face with Sharma on the road while looking after poll preparations. “This is Bengal; if he is 'Singham', I am 'Pushpa',” Khan said.
“No amount of threat or coercion by the BJP-appointed police officials from Uttar Pradesh will be allowed in Falta,” he said. “They came with forces and tried to pressure my people and me. Such actions are not acceptable in a democratic system.”
The ACP of Prayagraj in UP, faced protests by Trinamul supporters who raised 'Jai Bangla'. Witnesses said that Sharma had visited the candidate's house on Monday and said that the authorities would take “firm and immediate steps” if there were reports of voter intimidation and told the candidate not to come crying.
A poll panel official said Sharma visited the area after the EC received reports that Khan's men were allegedly collecting voter identity cards from people in the constituency and threatening them. The protestors termed those allegations “lies” and demanded that Sharma furnish “proof of voter intimidation”.
Around 3.21 crore voters – who include 1.64 crore males, 1.57 crore females and 792 transgenders – are expected to decide the fate of 1,448 candidates from TMC, BJP, CPI(M), Congress and various other parties in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan East.
Several of these key seats in the city have also been the home turf of TMC heavyweights like Banerjee, who is contesting at Bhowanipore against leader of the Opposition and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari, Kolkata Mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim at Kolkata Port, parliamentary affairs minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay at Ballygunge, power minister Aroop Biswas at Tollygunge, women and child development minister Shashi Panja at Shyampukur.
Otherss are finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya at Dum Dum North, education minister Bratya Basu at Dum Dum, disaster management minister Javed Ahmed Khan at Kasba, fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose at Bidhannagar, Member Mayor-in-Council (MMiC) at Kolkata Municipal Corporation Debashis Kumar at Rasbehari and another MMiC Debabrata Majumdar at Jadavpur.
All eyes will however be on the voters' turnout that has created a national record, 93.2 per cent, in the first phase here on April 23, following the SIR which has axed names of nearly 91 lakh voters across the state, and appears to have driven the remaining voters in large numbers to booths. Interestingly, the total number of deletions includes around 12.9 lakh voters which are from the 142 poll-bound seats.
Districtwise, North 24 Parganas (3,25,666) topped the list of voters, followed by South 24 Parganas (2,22,929), East Burdwan (2,09,805) and Nadia (2,08,626). In Kolkata, 67,632 names were deleted. Among the constituencies, Metiabruz in South 24 Parganas witnessed the highest number of removals, 39,579, followed by Rajarhat-New Town (24,132) and Matua dominated seats like Ranaghat North East (20,796), Ranaghat South (17,411) and Gaighata (19,638).
To ensure a free and fair polling, the EC has made yet another unprecedented deployment of central paramilitary forces for the last phase. of troops have been posted at the seven districts, 142 general observers, 95 police observers and 100 expenditure observers have been assigned. Kolkata has the highest deployment, 273 companies of central forces. EC has also deployed NIA to ensure no use of bombs.
