Kolkata: More than 84 lakh voters will decide the fate of more than 283 candidates in 35 assembly seats in the eighth and final phase of the election on Thursday, amid growing cases of Coronavirus infection in West Bengal. All eyes will be on Birbhum District President Anubrata Mandal of the Trinamool Congress who is under the strict supervision of the Election Commission.
An Election Commission official said that Mandal has been kept under observation till 7 pm on Friday as the Chief Electoral Officer in the state had received several complaints against him. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was also kept under similar watch during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 2016 assembly elections.
The official said that security arrangements have been beefed up in the wake of the violence in the earlier phases, especially the death of five people in Cooch Behar during the fourth phase of polling. He said that the Election Commission has decided to deploy at least 641 companies of central forces to ensure free and fair voting in the eighth phase, out of which 224 will be deployed in Birbhum district.
Voting will be held at 11,860 polling booths for 11-11 assembly seats in Murshidabad and Birbhum, six in Malda and seven in Kolkata. Two Trinamool Congress ministers – Shashi Panja and Madhyam Pandey – are contesting from Shyampukur and Maniktala seats in North Kolkata respectively. A triangular contest is expected in about 17 seats in Malda and Murshidabad districts where the Left-Congress-ISF coalition has a good hold besides TMC and BJP.
The official said that strict compliance with the guidelines related to Covid-19 will be ensured during the voting process. According to a bulletin issued by the Health Department, there were 16403 new cases of infection in West Bengal on Tuesday, with the total number of infected people in the state has increased to 776345.
