The first phase of election in West Bengal for 30 assembly seats concluded today with few incidents of clashes and complaints regarding EVM machines from various polling-stations. A total of 191 candidates are in the fray for the first-phase.

In the heated theatre of the ongoing West Bengal election, a controversy erupted when a video clip was released by the BJP, in which CM Mamata Banerjee is seen cajoling a local leader from Nandigram to help her win the seat against her former protégé Suvendu Adhikari.

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A BJP delegation, led by party general secretary and Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, met the state’s chief electoral officer and handed over the tape, claiming that Banerjee was using her official position to influence the outcome of the bitterly-contested high-pitched assembly poll.

Many people suspect that the video was doctored and that it was released to impact the voter sentiments on the very first day of polling. A source in Hooghly, on the condition of anonymity, asserted that the accent and the tone of the recorded speech make it clear that it was not Mamata’s speech.

The election in West Bengal is scheduled to be held in 8 phases from March 27 to April, 29 and the vote counting will take place on May, 02, 2021.