Bengal Elections: EC ready for first phase of voting, tight security arrangements; High stakes contest on 152 seats

West Bengal Election Phase 1: Preparations have been completed for the first phase of assembly elections in West Bengal. In this phase to be held on Thursday, about 3.6 crore voters will exercise their franchise at about 44,000 polling stations on 152 seats in 16 districts. This time the elections are being conducted in only two phases.

Whereas voting was held in eight phases in 2021 and six phases in 2016. Although the number of phases has reduced, unprecedented arrangements have been made in terms of security and the Election Commission has taken many new steps to follow the strict rules.

TMC vs BJP contest on 80 seats

In the first phase, a direct contest is being considered between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on at least 80 seats. At the same time, multi-cornered contest can also be seen on some seats, because Left Front and Congress are in different fields and some religious organizations have also entered.

Voting will take place in these major districts

The districts where voting will be held on Thursday include Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, North and South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, West Bardhaman, Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, West and East Midnapore. A total of 1,478 candidates are in the fray in this phase.

Security arrangements tightened

The Election Commission has made strict security arrangements. About 2,407 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), comprising more than 2.4 lakh personnel, have been deployed. 7,384 polling stations have been declared ‘highly sensitive’ or ‘critical’ and quick reaction teams have also been deployed. Arrangements like Braille-enabled EVMs, ramps and priority queues have been made for the convenience of voters. Besides, toll-free numbers and email IDs have also been issued for complaints.

Politics intensifies regarding SIR

The political controversy regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list is also intense in this election. Trinamool Congress has alleged that names of a particular community are being removed through this process. Whereas BJP says that this is an action to remove fake voters. About 91 lakh names have been removed from the voter list, including dead, transferred or duplicate names.

Also read: EC’s Hunter! Seizure of Rs 1000 crore creates stir; It’s raining money and liquor in elections, see full list

However, controversy has also arisen over the new criteria like ‘Logical Discrepancy’, in which sorting of names has been done on the basis of difference in spelling, age etc. Overall, amidst tight security arrangements and political turmoil, the first phase of voting in West Bengal is being considered very important and interesting.