30 seats in Bengal, 47 in Assam vote in phase 1 of polls

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The first phases of the West Bengal and Assam assembly elections have started. The votes will be counted on May 2. Polling began at 7 am on Saturday for the 30 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal amid tight security, officials said. More than 73 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 191 candidates in these seats, most of which are located in the once-Naxal-affected Jungle Mahal region.

The elections are being held following COVID-19 guidelines in all nine seats in Purulia, four in Bankura, four in Jhargram and six in Paschim Medinipur, besides the seven seats in high-stakes Purba Medinipur — the home turf of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari. In Assam, voting began at 7 am for 47 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections to decide the fate of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and a host of ministers and opposition leaders, officials said.

Altogether 264 candidates, including 23 women, are in the fray in the first phase, they said. A total of 300 companies of security forces have been deployed in the first phase, in which people are voting at 11,537 polling stations across 12 districts of Upper Assam and the Northern Bank of Brahmaputra. Patrolling has been intensified and strict vigil is being kept in all the vulnerable areas, officials said.

Most of these 47 seats are witnessing a triangular contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Asom Gana Parishad alliance, the Congress-led opposition grand alliance and the newly-formed Assam Jatiya Parishad. Altogether, 81,09,815 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase. Of them, 40,77,210 are male and 40,32,481 female, while 124 are third gender voters, besides nine overseas voters.