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Didi is Bengal’s Dada

West Bengal assembly election result beholds the fate of over 2000 candidates, who contested across the 294 constituencies that voted in eight phases…reports Asian Lite News

West Bengal Assembly Elections result, the most awaited among the three other states and a Union territory that went to polls in March and April, is likely to be announced by Sunday evening as counting of votes is underway. Early leads show that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) is headed for a big win with Mamata Banerjee’s party leading in over 200 seats. As of now, the BJP is ahead in nearly 80 seats, according to trends on the Election Commission of India’s website.

During the eight-phased elections, the state witnessed a fierce battle between chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and BJP, which is confident of winning a clear majority.

Mamata Banerjee is looking to win the third term in West Bengal as the chief minister while the opposition BJP has vowed to win more than 200 seats. The fight for the Nandigram assembly constituency is so far the most interesting as the TMC supremo is contesting from this seat for the first time and is trailing behind BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who was once the CM’s close aide.

Exit polls have predicted a close contest between the TMC and BJP, who trained guns at each other during massive election rallies that were later criticised for being conducted during the worrisome wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. If Mamata Banerjee’s TMC manages to hold on, it will a remarkable achievement as the party has been weakened by desertions, faced significant anti-incumbency, and appeared to be behind the BJP for much of the campaign.

West Bengal assembly election result beholds the fate of over 2000 candidates, who contested across the 294 constituencies that voted in eight phases.

Banerjee, who had won the last two elections from the Bhowanipur Assembly constituency in Kolkata, left her seat this time and decided to contest from Nandigram. Adhikari, who was an important minister in Banerjee’s cabinet before defecting to the BJP, had won from Nandigram in the 2016 elections on a Trinamool ticket.

Though Banerjee is trailing, the Trinamool Congress is showing signs of cruising to a big victory with most of its major candidates leading in their respective seats.

PWD Minister Arup Biswas is leading from the Tollygunge Assembly constituency over his BJP rival Babul Supriyo by a margin of nearly 8,000 votes.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

Education Minister Partha Chatterjee is also leading from the Behala West Constituency by a margin of nearly 5,000 votes. Similarly, Javed Ahmed Khan has taken a lead of more than 47,000 votes over his Left Front rival Shatarup Ghosh.

Apart from that, Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee is leading from the Ballygunge constituency, IT Minister Bratya Basu is leading from Dum Dum in North 24 Parganas, Urban Development Minister and former Mayor Firhad Hakim is leading from Kolkata Port constituency, Food Minister Jyotipriaya Mullick is leading from Habra, while Minister of State for Women and Child Health Shashi Panja in leading from the Jorasanko constituency in North Kolkata.

Alternatively, Tourism Minister Goutam Deb is trailing from the Dabgram-Phulbari constituency in Jalpaiguri district, while Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak is trailing from the Asanasol South constituency in East Burdwan district. Minister of State for Fire Sujit Basu is also trailing from the Bidhananagar constituency.

BJP’s Nisith Pramanik is leading against Trinamool heavyweight Udyayan Guha from the Dinhata Assembly constituency in Cooch Behar district.

Heavyweight BJP candidates like Swapan Dasgupta, Locket Chatterjee, Biashali Dalmia, Rahul Sinha, Babul Supriyo and Samik Bhattacharya are all trailing in their respective constituencies.

Also Read-Pinarayi leads LDF to historic win in Kerala

Read More-TN Election Updates: DMK takes lead

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-Top News India News West Bengal

Exit polls indicate hat-trick for Mamata

Apart from the Axis My India-India Today and the Republic-CNX exit polls, all other surveys forecast a third victory for the Trinamool, reports Asian Lite News

Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is set to retain power in West Bengal, all exit polls, except two, indicated after the month-long, eight-phase Assembly polls ended on Thursday.

Apart from the Axis My India-India Today and the Republic-CNX exit polls, which gave the BJP an edge in the battleground state, all other surveys, including the CVoter Exit Poll for Times Now/ABP News, forecast a third victory for the Trinamool, putting it ahead in the 294-member Assembly.

However, the survey of Axis My India-India Today, whose predictions in the 2019 Assembly elections had shown the immense BJP gains in the state, again gave the party its first-ever victory in the state polls. According to it, the BJP could end with 134-160 seats, the Trinamool with 130-156, and the Left with a mere 0-2. On the other hand, the P-MARQ survey gave the Trinamool 152-172 seats, the BJP 112-132, and the Left 10-20. The NewsX-Polstrat gave the Trinamool 152-162 and the BJP 111-125 seats.

The ETG Research poll gave Banerjee’s party 164-176, the BJP 105-115 and the Left 10-15 seats. CVoter gave Trinamool 152-164, the BJP 109-121 and the Left 14-25.

The Republic-CNX poll, however, showed a BJP victory, giving it 138-148 seats, with 128-132 for the Trinamool and 11-21 for the Left.

 Polling concludes

Despite some sporadic incidents, the eighth and final phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal concluded peacefully on Thursday with a voter turnout of 76.07 per cent.

In the final phase, voting took place in 11,860 polling stations spread across 35 Assembly constituencies in four districts — Malda, Murshidabad, North Kolkata and Birbhum.

According to the data released by the Election Commission, Birbhum district recorded the maximum voter turnout of 81.87 per cent till 5 pm, followed by Malda (80.06 per cent), Murshidabad (78.07 per cent) and North Kolkata (57.43 per cent).

As far as individual constituencies are concerned, Hariharpara in Murshidabad district recorded the highest turnout of 84.19 per cent, while Jorashanko in North Kolkata recorded the lowest turnout of 48.45 per cent.

North Kolkata, where 7 Assembly constituencies went to the polls, recorded an overall polling percentage of 57.43 per cent. Among the individual constituencies in the city, Jorasanko witnessed the lowest polling of 48.45 per cent, while Chowrangee recorded a turnout of 51.98 per cent.

Entally recorded the highest polling in the city at 65.79 per cent, while both Beliagahta and Maniktala recorded a turnout of 60 per cent.

The sporadic incidents that took place during polling on Thursday started with the explosion of two crude bombs near the Mahajati Sadan under the Jorasanko Assembly constituency in the early morning before the beginning of polls.

The police have collected CCTV footage from the spot, but no arrests have been made as yet. No one was injured in the incident.

The second incident was reported from 239 Rabindra Sarani under the Posta police station at 9 am when two crude bombs exploded there. The police have arrested six persons in connection with the case. However, the EC later said that they were only heavy crackers.

Clashes and fisticuffs broke out on more than one occasion between rival political groups.

In Kolkata’s Beliaghata area, clashes broke out between two groups of people on more than one occasion following which the police resorted to mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.

Bengal heads for penultimate phase of polling


In Maniktala constituency, BJP candidate Kalyan Choubey was allegedly gheraoed by a group of people during his visit to the polling booths.

ADG (Law & Order), Jagmohan, said that the police made 835 preventive arrests on Thursday which included 316 from the Kolkata Police area. Four persons were arrested on charges of violating Section 144, while 20 were held under specific cases.

“We have recovered 78 crude bombs, seized 5 illegal weapons and 21 round ammunition,” Jagmohan said.

The EC received 1179 complaints through various platforms on Thursday. There was also drone surveillance at some polling booths in Kolkata for monitoring the elections.

Meanwhile, Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife Sudesh Dhankhar casted their votes at a polling booth in Chowringhee Assembly constituency.

Also Read-Exit polls predict win for Stalin, Pinarayi; cliffhanger in Bengal

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Bengal final phase polling underway

Malda where six constituencies are going for the polls recorded 18.97 per cent polling followed by Murshidabad where 18.86 per cent of polling was recorded from the 11 constituencies in the fray….reports Asian Lite News

 Braving heat and Covid-19, people came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise recording 16.04 per cent of polling in the first hours in the last phase where 35 constituencies spanning across four districts went to polls on Thursday.

According to the data released by the commission though Malda and Murdshidabad recorded high polling, North Kolkata and Birbhum recorded a low voter turnout till 9 a.m.

Malda where six constituencies are going for the polls recorded 18.97 per cent polling followed by Murshidabad where 18.86 per cent of polling was recorded from the 11 constituencies in the fray.

Kolkata North where there are seven constituencies recorded a polling of only 12.89 per cent and 13.44 per cent of polling was recorded in the 11 constituencies of Birbhum.

Bengal heads for penultimate phase of polling

So far as individual constituencies are concerned Sujapur in Murshidabad district recorded the highest voter turnout of 21 per cent till 9 a.m. and Dubrajpur recorded the lowest polling percentage in the first two hours. This constituency in Birbhum district recorded only 6 per cent of polling in the first two hours.

An analysis of the assembly seats on the parameters of Lok Sabha election shows that Trinamool Congress had a lead in 19 constituencies, BJP had an edge in 11 constituencies and the rest of the 5 seats were in control of Congress. The Left Front hardly had any impression in these 35 seats.

Also read:Penultimate phase of polling underway in Bengal

A close look at the basic facts shows that the total number of electors including service voters in these constituencies are 84,93,255 of which 43,70,693 are male electors and 41,22,403 are female voters.

There are 11,860 polling booths spread across 5,837 polling station location where 9,216 are main booths and the rest 2,644 are auxiliary booths. The number of 80 plus voters are 1,12,440 while 72,094 are PWD (Persons with Disabilities) voters. The total number of service electors in this phase are 14,981, third gender voters are 159 and the number of overseas voters is only 10.

WB

Election is going on in booth number 126 of Sitalkhuch assembly constituency in Coochbehar district where four persons were killed during the polling in the fourth phase on April 10.

The Election Commission has already announced that 5,433 booths of the total 11,860 booths are extremely sensitive and so have deployed 24 general observers, nine expenditure observers and nine police observers for the eighth phase of the polls. There will be webcasting facilities in 5,565 per cent of the booths and micro-observers will be deployed in 20 per cent of the booths.

The Commission will deploy 646 companies of central forces during the last phase with Birbhum having the highest deployment of 225 companies for its 11 constituencies.

Two hundred and fifteen companies of central forces will be used for its 11 constituencies in Murshidabad, 110 companies for the 6 constituencies of Malda while North Kolkata will have the lowest deployment of 96 companies for its 7 constituencies

Also read:West Bengal Cong still in disarray

Categories
India News West Bengal

Mamata cries foul in Bengal polls

The 16 constituencies in South 24 Parganas recorded the lowest turnout at 65.57 per cent till 3 pm…reports Asian Lite News.

Ongoing mass electoral process in some states of India is about to windup in few hours. Despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee complaining of ‘blatant’ misuse of Central forces, as many as 68.04 per cent cent of the voters turned out to exercise their franchise till 3 pm during the third phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal on Tuesday, according to official data received here.

As many as 78,564,74 voters in 31 Assembly constituencies spread across three districts — South 24 Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah — are out to cast their votes during the third phase on Tuesday.

According to Election Commission data, around 68.04 per cent polling was recorded in the first five hours of polling, much on the lines of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the elections held on March 27 and April 1, respectively.

Hooghly district, where eight constituencies are going to the polls, recorded the highest turnout at 72.6 per cent, followed by Howrah district where 68.37 per cent polling was recorded in seven constituencies.

The 16 constituencies in South 24 Parganas recorded the lowest turnout at 65.57 per cent till 3 pm.

Long queues of voters could be seen at most of the polling stations. So far, voting has been peaceful barring a few instances of allegations and counter allegations between the Trinamool and the BJP.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee complained of blatant misuse of Central forces in the third phase of polling.

“The blatant misuse of Central forces continues unabated. Despite us repeatedly raising this issue, @ECISVEEP continues to be a mute spectator while men in uniform are being misused at several places to openly intimidate TMC voters & influence many to vote in favour of one party,” Banerjee posted on her official Twitter handle.

There were complaints of violence and voter intimidation both from the Trinamool and BJP camp. While the BJP leaders claimed that the mother of one of their supporters was killed by Trinamool ‘goons’ at Goghat in Hooghly on Monday night, the Trinamool on its part claimed that its candidate from Arambagh, Sujata Mondal, was chased by BJP ‘goons’ at Arandi 1 gram panchayat.

Mondal happens to be the wife of BJP leader Saumitra Khan and had joined the Trinamool recently. The ruling party also alleged that their candidate from Khanakul in Hooghly, Munshi Najbul Karim, was beaten up by BJP supporters. The party is likely to lodge a complaint with the EC on Tuesday afternoon.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, the Election Commission suspended a sector officer after three EVMs and four VVPAT machines were found at Trinamool leader Goutam Ghosh’s residence. According to reports, sector officer Tapan Sarkar, who was in-charge of Sector 17 in the Uluberia seat, had spent the night at a relative’s house who happened to be Goutam Ghosh. The EVMs and VVPAT machines with Sarkar were part of the reserve stock. The commission has said that these EVMs won’t be used for voting on Tuesday.

A three-cornered battle between the Trinamool, the BJP and the COngress-Left combine is on the cards in the 31 Assembly seats where polling is underway on Tuesday.

The total number of voters in these constituencies is 78,564,74, including 4,049 service voters, 39,972,18 male electors and 38,590,13 female voters. There are a total of 10,871 polling stations, including 8,480 main and 2,391 auxiliary booths.

The number of 80 plus voters is 1,26,177 while 64,083 are PWDs (persons with disabilities) voters. A total of 243 voters belong to the third gender, while there are two overseas voters.

In total, 205 candidates, including 13 females, from different political parties are in the fray in the third phase of polling. Prominent candidates among them are BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta, Trinamool minister Ashima Patra and CPI(M) leader Kanti Ganguly.

Marking all the 10,871 booths as ‘sensitive’, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed 618 companies of Central forces for the third phase of polling besides retaining another 89 companies of Central forces from the second phase, which are already stationed in South 24 Parganas, pushing up the number of forces to 707 companies – the highest deployment in the ongoing Assembly elections so far.

Also Read-Tight security in Bengal ahead of polls

Read More-West Bengal Cong still in disarray