Kolkata: Voting is to be held on 142 seats on Wednesday under the second phase of West Bengal Assembly elections. The Election Commission has made unprecedented security arrangements for this. More than 3.5 lakh personnel of central forces have been deployed for this voting to be held in 7 districts of the state. These include CRPF, SSB, RPF, ITBP and CISF personnel. About 35 thousand soldiers are deployed in Kolkata alone, while 2550 companies are handling security in the entire state. The Election Commission has also deployed 142 general observers and 95 police observers.
NIA deployed in elections for the first time
For the first time, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also been deployed in an election. Complete monitoring will be done from the Central Control Room in Kolkata, which is divided into 7 clusters and the responsibility of each cluster has been given to a nodal officer. CCTV cameras are being monitored around every polling station and the live feed is directly reaching the control room. The control room of CAPF is linked to the state and district level election officials. More than 6 thousand ‘quick response teams’ have been formed for security, while patrolling with armored vehicles continues in sensitive areas.
SIR is a big issue in this phase of elections
The Election Commission has also issued helpline numbers, so that any irregularities can be reported immediately. Voting has taken place on 152 seats in the first phase on April 23 and now all eyes are on the second phase. A total of 3 crore 21 lakh 73 thousand 837 voters will exercise their franchise in the second phase. SIR remains a big issue in this phase, as a large number of names have been removed from the voter list in many districts. 12.5 lakh votes have been reduced in North 24 Parganas, about 11 lakh in South 24 Parganas, 6 lakh in Howrah, 4.5 lakh in Hooghly and about 4.85 lakh in Nadia. There are about 25 seats where lost votes can decide the difference between victory and defeat.
The entire country’s eyes are on Bhawanipur seat.
Bhawanipur seat of Kolkata is the most talked about, where there is a contest between TMC chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. Here about 51 thousand i.e. 25 percent names have been removed from the voter list. Trinamool Congress alleges that this is a conspiracy, while BJP is rejecting it. Bhawanipur seat is called ‘Mini India’, where people from different communities live. In the last by-election, Mamata Banerjee had won here by 58 thousand votes, but in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the difference was only 8 thousand, due to which the contest is considered to be tough.
The atmosphere is hot in South 24 Parganas
Among the 7 districts, North and South 24 Parganas are considered the most important, because 64 out of 294 seats are in these 2 districts. In the last elections, 58 of these seats were won by Trinamool Congress. Barrackpur, Barasat and Bangaon in North 24 Parganas, while Diamond Harbor and Alipore are important areas in South 24 Parganas. The Muslim population in South 24 Parganas is about 35 percent and the election atmosphere here is very heated. In this way, it can be said that in the second phase, there may be a tough contest between BJP and TMC on most of the seats.
BJP has put more emphasis this time
Nadia district is also important in the second phase, where BJP had got 9 out of 17 seats in the last elections. Here the vote of Matua and Namashudra community is considered decisive. This time issues like NRC and CAA can also impact the elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to grant citizenship to the refugees, while the Trinamool Congress is opposing the NRC. In the last elections, Trinamool Congress had won 123 out of 142 seats in these 7 districts, while BJP had won only 18 seats. This time BJP has put more emphasis and Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath campaigned vigorously.
Key in the hands of Hindu and women voters
Experts believe that if the inclination of Hindu and women voters changes even slightly, the results of 73 out of 142 seats may be affected. Issues like employment, education and health are also important in the urban areas of these districts. Overall, the entire country is keeping an eye on the voting to be held tomorrow amidst tight security and political tension, because its results can decide the direction of Bengal politics.
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