Today is the day of the sixth phase of the West Bengal polls. Over 1 crore voters in West Bengal will decide today the political fate of 306 candidates, when 43 Assembly constituencies are into the polls in the sixth phase, amid a raging second wave of Covid-19. West Bengal election has been a high-pitched personal battle for leaders in Trinamool Congress & BJP, with volleys of accusations and counter-accusations being exchanged between the parties.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

In terms of voter turnout, about 17.25 percent of voters exercised their franchise till 11 am, where polling is underway in 43 seats.

In today’s fray, heavyweights such as Bharatiya Janata Party’s national vice-president Mukul Roy, Trinamool Congress ministers Jyotipriyo Mallick and Chandrima Bhattacharya, and CPI(M) leader Tanmay Bhattacharya are contesting. Also among other prominent names in the sixth-phase are those of film director Raj Chakraborty and actor Koushani Mukherjee, who are TMC’s candidates from the Barrackpore and the Krishnanagar North constituencies respectively.

Also See: West Bengal 2021: Battleground for BJP and TMC

In the context of the Covid19 surge during election season, GopalKrishna Gandhi, the former Governor of West Bengal said that the surge in virus in West Bengal that has coincided with the on-going Assembly elections has jeopardized “the health of the electors, the election staff, and security personnel on duty simultaneously and staggeringly”.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

In his letter to election commission of India, he said that the electoral democracy and public health should not be “out of harmony”.

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Mr. Gandhi wrote in his letter to the CEC, “Please consider placing an immediate ban on all public rallies and door-to-door campaigning in the State till the last vote has been cast on April 29. And direct them to move to virtual campaigning. It should not be said that India’s electoral democracy and India’s public health are out of harmony.”