Bengal, Assam to vote today in high-stakes second phase

Voting for the second phase of elections in 39 seats in Assam and 30 in West Bengal will take place on Thursday amid high security, even as all eyes were on Nandigram, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is taking on her protégé-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Election Commission has imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in and around all polling stations in Nandigram and East Midnapore district, where the constituency falls, and additional security forces have been deployed as both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP alleged that “outsiders” could try to create disturbance on the polling day, moving the Election Commission.

“Goons from outside have come and have threatened villagers in places such as Gokulnagar, Boyal and Balarampur areas in Nandigram. We have informed the EC. We hope there would be free and fair polls in Nandigram,” Banerjee told reporters before leaving Nandigram on Wednesday morning.

Jay Prakash Majumdar, the BJP’s state vice-president, said the EC will verify the allegations. “We have asked EC to ensure free and fair elections,” he said.

BJP president JP Nadda said: “People of Nandigram will give a clear message that TMC will be vanquished from West Bengal.” Banerjee retorted: “In Nandigram, TMC would get 100 out of 100 votes.”

A senior official of the poll panel said that around 650 companies of central forces will be deployed in the second phase to guard 10,620 booths across the 30 constituencies in West Bengal. In Nandigram alone, where there are 355 polling booths, around 22 companies of central forces have been deployed.

There will also be aerial surveillance with helicopters, webcasting in at least 75% booths, 22 quick response teams, static surveillance teams and micro-observers. There will be one general observer and one police observer, too, for Nandigram, an Election Commission official said.

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Of the 30 seats that are going to the polls on Thursday, 23 were won by the TMC in 2016. The Left won five seats, while the BJP and the Congress won one seat each.

On Wednesday, the poll panel removed the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Haldia and the circle inspector (CI) of Mahishadal in East Midnapore district.

In Assam, prominent candidates in the second phase include Parimal Suklabaidya (Dholai), Pijush Hazarika (Jagiroad), Bhabesh Kalita (Rangia), all ministers in the BJP-led government, and the assembly deputy speaker Aminul Haque Laskar (Sonai).

Over 7.3 million voters will decide the fates of 345 candidates (26 women) in 13 districts which will go to the polls on April 1. In the first phase, polling took place in 47 seats in 12 districts on March 27.

The high-voltage campaign that saw bigwigs from the BJP and Congress touring the state several times in the past week ended on a damp note on Tuesday due to inclement weather.

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A day before the polling, Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday targeted the Congress for allegedly killing protesters during the Assam agitation, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed the ruling BJP of shooting at anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters in the state.

“Congress, which fired at protesters during the Assam agitation to oust illegal immigrants, has no right to ask for votes. As if it was not enough, the party is now riding piggyback on Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF),” said Shah at a rally at Bijni in Chirang district of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). He addressed two more rallies at Hajo and Sonapur.

Gandhi spoke of Dipanjal Das, the first of the five people killed in police firing at anti-CAA protesters in December 2019. “Dipanjal was an idea and truly representative of what Assam is. It was not as if one youth was shot at, it felt as if the police (under BJP rule) had fired upon Assam and its people. It was an attempt to murder Assam. I am beginning my speech with Dipanjal, as I feel it’s the most important issue,” Gandhi said while addressing a rally in Chaygaon. Gandhi addressed another rally at Barkhetri later.

Most of the focus of the campaign in the second phase was in the three Bengali-majority districts of Barak Valley-Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi, which have 15 seats in total.