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Suvendu issued notice by the Election commission of India for communal overtones directed at the Bengal CM

A notice was issued by the Election Commission of India to TMC leader turned BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari for communal overtones of his speech directed at the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

This year’s assembly election in West Bengal is a high pitched battle between TMC, which is looking forward to a third term and the BJP seeking to make inroads into the state polity.

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

In Damjur, West Bengal, while addressing a rally on Thursday CM Banerjee stated that the Election Commission could serve her ten notices but she would urge people to vote unitedly without any division. In the rally, she also commented, “How many complaints have been filed against Narendra Modi? He does Hindu-Muslim every day.”

Three roadshows were held by BJP President JP Nadda in Alipurduar, Dinhata, and Mekliganj ahead of the fourth phase of the Assembly elections in the state.

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

The first three of the total eight phases of West Bengal’s assembly elections are now over and the electorate in 91 constituencies have already cast their votes. A total of 44 seats will go to polls on April 10 for the fourth phase.

Few days back, a complaint was submitted to the Election commission by TMC leader-Derek O’Brien regarding a sexual assault carried out on a minor girl by a CRPF jawan in Tarakeshwar, on which the ECI has still not responded.

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Yogi Adityanath spoke about forming Anti-Romeo squads & women-safety in election rally in Bengal

A Bisht-UP

The first three of the total eight phases of West Bengal’s assembly elections are now over and the electorate in 91 constituencies have already cast their votes. A total of 44 seats will go to polls on April 10 for the fourth phase.

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

On Thursday, Yogi Adityanath said that anti-Romeo squads will be formed in West Bengal if the party is voted to power in the state. Playing the typical saffron-party card, Adityanath stated that Bengal is not a safe place for women under the present TMC government.

Also See: What do the manifestos promise as election begins in West Bengal

Adityanath was addressing three poll rallies in Hooghly and Howrah districts of the state. Apart from this, a roadshow was held by BJP president JP Nadda in Mekliganj, Coochbehar.

Stats of UP on crimes against women

It is worthwhile to note that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) positions Uttar Pradesh as the most unsafe for Women. In this context, the Badaun incident occurred within a few months after a Dalit lady from Hathras was purportedly assaulted by four men on September 14. The Hathras victim passed away on September 29 at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital and the victim in the Badaun incident died due to severe injuries and blood loss caused by the accused with her body dumped at the doorsteps of the anxious family in the dead of the night.

Also Read: Uttar Pradesh most unsafe for women as exemplified by Hathras and Badaun cases

In 2016, Uttar Pradesh had the most elevated number of crimes against women. While the state recorded 14.5% of the absolute instances of violations against women, it represented 12.4% of the total number of rape cases.

The 2017 statistics highlights the poor law and order circumstances in the nation with 3.59 lakh instances of crimes revealed against women. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of crimes against women with 56,011 cases, while Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of rape cases at 5562.

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

The 2017 Unnao rape case in the Bharatiya Janata Party- ruled Uttar Pradesh shook the nation. The party legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. Uttar Pradesh was trailed by Maharashtra with 31,979 cases and West Bengal with 30,002 cases.

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Mohua Moitra hit back at Election Commission for sending notice to Mamata Banerjee

TMC-ECI

Election Commission of India on Wednesday evening had issued a notice to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for “openly demanding votes on communal grounds” during a campaign-rally in Tarakeshwar.  The notice was sent while Election Commission’s response to the complaint on CRPF-jawan raping a minor girl is still being awaited.

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

Today was the last day of campaigning for phase-4 of West Bengal election, while the issue of notice to Mamata Banerjee has riled up the TMC & its associates in the electoral battleground in the state.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

In a response to this, TMC MP Mohua Moitra has hit back at the Election Commission. She tweeted that, “Mamatadi issued notice by Election Commission on BJP’s complaints. What about TMC complaints. At least keep up the farce of impartiality.”  MP Moitra  pointed out the complaints of TMC regarding video evidence of BJP candidate distributing cash & cash coupons being distributed to attend BJP meetings & vote.

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

In February, MP Moitra’s speech had shaken up the parliament where apart from castigating the BJP-led central government, she had taken potshots on a former chief justice who had expunged himself of charges of sexual assault and moved to Rajya Sabha.

Also Read: From the National anthem to former CJI- Mohua Moitra’s speech that shook the parliament

Election Commission of India has given 48 hours to Mamata to explain her speech at the rally held in Tarakeshwar. In this regard, it is also worthwhile to note that a complaint was submitted to the Election commission by Derek O’Brien regarding a sexual assault carried out on a minor girl by a CRPF jawan in Tarakeshwar, on which the ECI has still not responded to.

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Jaya Bachchan hailed Mamata Banerjee as a fighter & rallied in support of TMC candidates in Dumdum

One daughter of West Bengal (nijer meye), the CM of the state, received support from  another daughter of the state (dhonni meye-blessed girl), an actor of national fame in rally & roadshow at DumDum.

Jaya Bachchan, a ‘daughter of Bengal’, hailed as dhonni meye (blessed girl) carried out a procession followed by a crowd in support of Bratya Basu, the Trinamool Congress candidate from Dumdum Centre.

In West Bengal, this year’s assembly election  is a high-pitched battle with highly personal stakes between TMC which is looking forward to third term and BJP which is trying to make inroads into the state.

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

On Tuesday, Jaya Bachchan started campaigning from the ice factory area in front of Dumdum municipality early evening. The road show with a huge number of people ended in Gorabazar area. TMC camp claimed that the promotion by a high-profile celebrity of the country will have a significant impact. Jaya Bachchan also did a road show in support of Trinamool candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya from North Dumdum Centre and Debashish Kumar from Rash Behari Centre.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Jaya Bachchan hailed West Bengal-CM Mamata Banerjee as a fighter who is fighting all the atrocities alone with a broken leg. Jayaji also took a swipe at BJP stating that no one has ever succeeded by intimidating Bengalis. She stated, “Bengalis never bow their heads before threat or intimidation.” Being an MP from Samajwadi Party (SP), Jayaji mentioned that she was in West Bengal on the instructions of the party president Akhilesh Yadav.

Also Read: Tendency to evade prediction & difference in voting for LS polls and assembly elections may surprise poll-pundits

In support for TMC, Jaya Bachchan added, “She (Mamata Banerjee) will accomplish what she wants. Bengal will witness further development under her leadership.” Jaya Bachchan flew into the state from Mumbai on Sunday evening with an agenda to rally for re-election of the Trinamool Congress on behalf of SP. Apart from SP; other prominent parties like NCP, Shiv Sena, RJD, and JMM have extended their support to the TMC.

Also Read: NCP leader Sharad Pawar comes in support of Mamata Banerjee against the saffronisation of Bengal

After campaigning for Trinamool candidate Arup Biswas in Tollygunge on Monday, she came to campaign at Dumdum Assembly constituency on the same day. Subsequently, the road show started from the ice factory area with Bratya Basu. As the procession progressed, it practically turned into a mass flood. Not only Trinamool Congress workers, supporters, many ordinary people also joined. As the procession passed through Mandir Road, Jagannath Tiwari Road, Harimohan Dutt Road, Green Park, the common people on both sides of the road showered the ‘Blessed Girl of Bengal’ Jaya with flowers.

Also See: What do the manifestos promise as election begins in West Bengal

Regarding the procession, Bratya Basu said, “Jayaji is very happy to see our procession. She has repeatedly said that Mamata Banerjee will be the Chief Minister again. She even ended the road show with the support of the Dumdum workers.” Bratya also added, “I am personally very happy. It is a big deal that a Padma Shri recipient like Jayaji has come to the campaign on my behalf. We are happy that she came so far at the call of Mamata Banerjee.”

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

It is worthwhile to underline that in addition to the Dumdum assembly constituency, Jaya did a road show on behalf of Trinamool candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya of North Dumdum. In this regard, she took part in a huge road show from Kalyani Road, MB Road junction to Jessore Road junction. Everywhere, there was practically the same picture about the enthusiasm of the people joining the roadshow. The people of North Dumdum forming a mass-flood were hailing the Bengali daughter.

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West Bengal election Phase-III-Sexual assault on minor girl by CRPF jawan in Tarakeshwar constituency, Hooghly

This year’s assembly election in West Bengal is a high pitched battle between TMC, which is looking forward to third term and the BJP getting desperate to make inroads into the state. Till 5 pm on Tuesday, nearly 78 percent polling was recorded in Phase-III of West Bengal assembly election 2021.

At Tarakeshwar in Hooghly a central security personnel, a jawan of CRPF, was caught assaulting a minor girl, after which he was thrashed and handed over to police by the locals.

Derek O Brien of TMC has written to Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal regarding the gruesome sexual assault on minor girl by CRPF jawan in Assembly Constituency 198-Tarakeshwar in Hooghly district.

The TMC leader accused the CRPF, which has been deployed by the Election Commission on poll duty to ensure free and fair elections, of “engaging in activities involving moral turpitude”.

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

The letter from Derek O’Brien to the electoral office reads as follows:

“In a gruesome and heart-breaking turn of events, the very CRPF that has been deployed to poll-bound Tarakeshwar, Hooghly to maintain the law and order, has become responsible for brutal and vicious attack on a minor, school-going girl.

In the early hours of 6 April 2021, immediately before the polls, a spot adjacent to the sanctuary of an educational institution, the Ramnagar Primary School, became the site of a horrific crime. In an unprecedented attack, an unidentified CRPF jawan brutally and viciously sexually assaulted a minor girl, a resident of Ramnagar GP.

The CRPF has specifically been deputed by the Election Commission of lndia in poll-bound districts in West Bengal to ensure ‘free and fair poll’ and ‘maintain law and order’. In fact, a large number of CRPF personnel were deployed in Hooghly just ahead of the polls. However, not only have such personnel failed to ensure ‘free and fair poll’ and in their primary duty to ‘maintain law and order’ but also are engaging in activities involving moral turpitude. The brutal attack has emotionally scarred a minor girl and her family.”

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

After the LS elections of 2019, India witnessed the largest electoral exercise today when 475 constituencies across four states of West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu & UT of Puducherry went to polls. West Bengal voted for the third phase of its assembly election. In this third phase of polling, voting took place for 31 seats. West Bengal witnessed a voter-turnout of 77.86% in the third-phase.

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.

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Turncoat seat: Bally- the seat of defector Baishali Dalmiya who had emerged victorious in 2016

Baishali dalmiya

In this year’s West Bengal election, Bally is an Assembly constituency in the Howrah district of West Bengal, which falls under the Howrah Lok Sabha constituency.

In the West Bengal Assembly election of 2016, the constituency had a total of 1,12,278 registered voters. Voter turnout in Bally in the previous Assembly election of 2016 was 70.20 percent.

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

In the West Bengal Assembly election of 2016, Baishali Dalmiya, who was then in the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) had won the Bally constituency. She had garnered 52,702 votes as against 37,299 votes won by her closest rival Saumendranath Bera of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Bera was defeated by a margin of 15,403 votes or 13.73 percent.

Also Read: Turncoats from TMC including Rajeeb Banerjee headed to New Delhi in a chartered flight to join BJP

In the assembly election of 2011 as well, the Bally seat was held by the TMC. In that election, Sultan Singh was declared winner after securing 87,408 votes. CPM’s Kanika Ganguly was the runner up in the contest over the seat. Ganguly had lost by a thin margin of 6,600 votes or 6.31 percent. The Bally seat would now be contested by a candidate who had recently defected to BJP.

Also Read: Evolution of Anti defection laws in India- an overview

Baishali Dalmiya had jumped boat into BJP, in the window of political opportunism, when many leaders with charges and accusations in cases like Sharada scam had switched over to the saffron camp.

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

West Bengal Assembly election this year, is being held in eight phases, up from seven last time, which began with polling for 30 seats on March 27 in first-phase. The second phase of West Bengal’s assembly elections was conducted on April 01 & covered 30 constituencies. It would be followed by the third phase on April 06 for 31 seats, the fourth on April 10 for 44 constituencies, the fifth on April 17 for 45 seats, sixth for 43 seats on April 22, seventh phase on April 26 for 36 seats and last and eighth phase would be on April 29 for 35 seats.

The results of the election will be declared after vote counting on May 02.

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Tendency to evade prediction & difference in voting for LS polls and assembly elections may surprise poll-pundits

Bengal Election

This year’s assembly election in West Bengal is a high pitched battle between TMC, which is looking forward to third term and the saffron camp getting desperate to make inroads into the state. TMC led by Mamata Banerjee gets uncomfortable on questions related to accountability, the continuance of Syndicate mafia, intra-party factionalism, promises of reversing the deindustrialization under Left front & exclusive decision making among Ms Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee and poll-strategist Prashant Kishor. The last factor was a dominant reason for many turncoats in the party to jump-boat to BJP using the window of opportunity of securing one’s political future. The BJP gets piqued and choked up on questions related to its rhetoric which fuels communalism, religious polarization, zero works in improving the national economic situation, turning a literal blind eye to Bengal during Amphan and Corona crises, clamping down on voices of dissent and differences, which is central to the social-psychology of West Bengal.

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

Poll-related violence in Nandigram

At the centre of the second phase of the high-pitched and to some extent personal battles of the West Bengal election, was the assembly seat of Nandigram, which saw spats of violence. At this seat, CM Banerjee is facing her former party-leader & her protégé, Suvendu Adhikari. The place failed to shrug off violence despite adoption of unprecedented measures by the Election Commission of India to maintain peace for a free and fair election.
Charges and counter-charges of intimidation of voters, rigging were volleyed by both BJP and TMC at each other. Incidents of polling agents being driven out & assault on voters and journalists were also exchanged throughout the day of the second-phase poll.

Also See: What are the problem areas of TMC and the chances of BJP in this election season in West Bengal

At Boyal, the day of second-phase poll saw supporters of both the parties clash over charges of rigging. As early as 8am, both Trinamool congress and BJP alleged that their polling agents were not being allowed to sit inside several several polling stations. Political agents were driven away multiple times at Boyal-I and Boyal-II. Trinamool alleged that their polling agents from as many as 80 booths had been driven out. Forces were mobilized to reduce the figure to 8.

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

In this regard, TMC lodged complaints with the Election Commission of India.  BJP complained that in as many as 122 booths, their agents had been driven out. Suvendu Adhikari rushed to Patrapara, where a BJP-supporter Uday Shankar Dobe committed suicide by hanging himself. His daughter Sabita alleged that her father was intimidated by TMC-supporters.  At Khadambari in Nandigram block I, some Trinamool supporters alleged that BJP was distributing puffed rice to allure voters. Pradip Mandal, a local panchayat official, stated that the saffron camp was doing this, triggering chaos, given the sure-shot probability that BJP would lose the election and its utter desperation.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

At Nandigram, West Bengal Chief Minister & TMC supremo-Mamata Banerjee had to be rescued by the Central paramilitary forces after having to stay confined for more than two hours at a polling booth amid an extremely tense face-off between BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters. The CM told the governor that the situation was a failure of the Election Commission, which was in charge of the law and order. But instead of responding to the situation, Governor Dhankar, who has shown his orientation towards the saffron camp time and agains, simply tweeted.

Also See: What do the manifestos promise as election begins in West Bengal

The wheelchair-bound Chief Minister added, “Anything might happen at any moment. There is total breakdown of law and order.” She also added that she was escorted out by the security forces, who managed to bring the situation under control after long-drawn negotiations with the villagers. Sitting outside the polling site, she wrote a complaint to Election commission, which might be the first instance of its kind in independent India.

Outside the polling station, the security forces were caught on camera shuttling between the two slogan-shouting groups who faced each other across a field, trying to broker peace.

Also Read: Loss of BJP in Bengal would send a message of assurance across the nation & Mamata Banerjee will win the third term

Voter-turnout

Over 83.95 percent voter turnout was recorded till 6 PM with the highest voting in Bankura and the lowest in Paschim Medinipur. Nandigram, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting against Suvendu Adhikari, recorded 80.79 percent turnout. In total, 43 Ballot Units and CUs each were replaced following glitches across the state. A total of 192 VVPATs were replaced during polling of the second-phase.

Prominent among the incidents of violence was the case where stones were thrown at cavalcade of Suvendu Adhikari. However, it missed and hit media car instead. The incident took place in Takapura area of Nandigram. Also, a vehicle of media personnel was attacked near booth number 170 in Kamalpur, Nandigram. Suvendu Adhikari claimed that the TMC cadres were behind the attack.

Also Read: West Bengal is a tough battlefield for BJP-an overview from historical, cultural & economic standpoints

Past trends’ analysis

The long-term trends of Assembly elections in West Bengal have shown that the incumbent government does return to power if it has performed reasonably well, has a credible mass leader and a believable political narrative. Those who do psephology know that the opinion polls are relatively weaker than the exit polls. In both opinion and exit polls, the most challenging task for pollsters is to accurately project seats rather than find out the probability of parties getting the exact percentage of votes.

In the recent past, political psephology has evolved & developed as a specialized field in political science to correct past mistakes of analyzing and calculating voting behaviour.  Methods of political psephology are derivatives of empirical political science and rational choice theory, rooted in mainstream Western social sciences. However, in the last few years, it has been noticed that the election results in the West and South Asian countries have surprised psephologists. In West Bengal, too, this has happened before, not once but twice. It was in 2001 & 2016 assembly elections.

Long-term trends of assembly elections in West Bengal show that the BJP gets fewer votes in percentage terms compared to parliament elections. A look at some figures of the past 12 years, when the independent strength of the Left has been dwindling provides some necessary insights. BJP got 6.14 percent votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. But in the 2011 Vidhan Sabha elections, it got only 4.06 percent votes. In the 2014 elections, it shot up to 17.02 percent votes in the wake of a pro-Modi and an anti-Congress wave in the Lok Sabha election. The vote share of BJP came down to 10.28 percent in the 2016 Vidhan Sabha elections. In 2019, the party surprised many pollsters and political pundits when its vote share touched 40.25 percent.
In Bengal, there was no alliance between the Left and the Congress. As a result, the anti-Trinamool vote got consolidated behind the BJP. Finally, the election was grounded on the RSS’s core issues, and emotions, centred on the Ram Mandir, CAA-NRC, abrogation of Article 370, and issues of national security and terrorism following the Pulwama attack were whipped up.

The state’s Opposition leader had said during the 2016 assembly elections that the Left-Congress alliance would get 200 seats. It ended up with just 77. In the run-up to the current elections, the Union home minister of India has said that the BJP will win 200 seats. This has been contested by the poll-strategist & I-PAC chief-Prashant Kishor, who has asserted that the BJP will not touch even 100 seats.

On an overall basis, the state has shown differences in voting behaviour for the LS polls and assembly election and this assembly election might also throw in surprising facets about the political choices and behavioural choices during elections.

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Phase-II election-Convoy of Suvendu Adhikari attacked in Nandigram & tense situation in Debra-37.42% turnout in Nandigram

SA bengal

Voting for the second phase of the West Bengal election began on April 01. Sporadic cases of violence were reported from various places in the phase-II voting.

Convoy of Suvendu Adhikari was attacked in Nandigram by unidentified people with stones. As security cover for the candidate was cautious, Adhikari was reportedly safe after the attack, but the cars behind Adhikari’s entourage carrying media personnel had to break away from the route.

In a parallel development, in Debra, after BJP’s Mandal President of the region, Mohan Singh, was detained by the police ruckus took place near a polling booth. BJP workers alleged that police were not allowing BJP election agent access inside the polling booth, whereas locals asserted that nobody wants violence and that this disturbance was brought by BJP.

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

In Bankura, TMC candidate Sayantika Banerjee alleged that two EVMs were dysfunctional and that most of the voters, who were her trusted voter-base had to return homes. She alleged that it was a conspiracy by the BJP to impact the voting in the region. She also added that BJP is trying to use Bankura heat to discourage voters through such issues of EVM, alluding to the influence of saffron party over the Election Commission of India.

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

In pockets of Purba Medinipur, some roads were blocked with burning tyres by Left-front party workers. In these regions and places of Paschim Medinipur, Amphan durniti (misgovernance) was used in the campaign by BJP, to allure voters.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

The voter turnout in Nandigram till now has been reported at 37.42 % and the current overall turnout for the phase-II election is at 34%.

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.

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Phase-II election in West Bengal on April 01: Mamata Banerjee vs Suvendu Adhikari Face-off begins in a few hours

adhikari

In West Bengal, the second phase of Assembly elections will be held tomorrow, April 01. A total of 30 assembly constituencies will go for voting in this phase, out of which nine seats are in the East Medinipur district. Among these, Nandigram is one of the key constituencies as the Bengal Chief Minister- Mamata Banerjee is in the contest from that seat. The high-stakes & high-pitched second phase of the Assembly elections will witness an intense contest between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former protégé & ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari.

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

The total number of polling booths in Nandigram is 355. Out of which 278 are main and 77 are auxiliary polling stations. Webcasting facility will be available in 278 booths. Total number of voters for the second phase is 2,57,156, out of which, 1,33,258 are male voters and 1,23,898 are female voters. All the booths where polling will be held in the second phase have been declared as “sensitive” by the Election Commission of India.

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

A total of 2,000 central forces officials will be deployed for Nandigram, and 22 quick response teams will also be there to prevent any chaos. The local sub-divisional authority in Haldia, Purba Medinipur district have said that in accordance with specific directions of the Election Commission of India, and in the likelihood of violence, breach of peace and unwarranted incidents, Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed from 6:30 pm on March 30 till April 2.

Also See: What are the problem areas of TMC and the chances of BJP in this election season in West Bengal

Apart from Nandigram, other important constituencies that are going to polls for the second-phase include Tamluk, Panskura Purba, Panskura Purba, Moyna, Nandakumar, Mahisadal, Chandipur, Haldia. In West Medinipur, constituencies going to polls are Kharagpur Sadar, Narayangarh, Sabang, Pingla, Debra, Daspur, Ghatal, Chandrakona and Keshpur. The centrality of this phase of election is clear from the activities of the Election Commission of India. Just 24 hours before the vote, Circle Inspector, Mahishadal, Bichitra Bikas Roy, has been replaced by Inspector, Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench, Sirshendu Das. SDPO, Haldia, Barun Baidya has been replaced by Uttam Mitra. On April 01, voting will also take place in Bankura, Barjora, Onda, Bishnupur, Katulpur, Indus, Sonamukhi, Taldangra.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Meanwhile, another important district in the fray for the second phase is South 24 Parganas. The district contains 31 Assembly constituencies in total and is known as a TMC  stronghold. The TMC managed to win 29 of 31 seats in the South 24 Parganas. But, the saffron camp has also left no stones unturned during the election campaign in these areas. The promises that BJP made during the election campaign are also endless, from gathering people who were angry on cyclone Amphan relief to making Gangasagar an international fair. Constituencies that go to poll in South 24 parganas are Gosaba, Patharpratima, Kakdwip and Sagar.

Impact of weather-heatwave

Several parts of West Bengal have been reeling under conditions of heat-wave. It has been estimated that there would be no likely improvement in the situation over the coming days. Conditions will remain hot and humid. But many believe that public will queue in front of the polling stations from the morning overcoming all obstacles to elect their representatives, given the importance of this assembly election & the political awareness of Bengali voters.

Also See: Battle for Bengal gets pithier as election days  are getting closer

Question marks on ECI

In the context of West Bengal election, Election Commission of India, which was once reformed by TN Seshan (in early 1990s) is now facing serious questions over its legitimacy as an organization that coordinates the national and state elections. Its actions like declaring all the polling sites as sensitive, spreading the election over 8 phases, changing rules for polling agents, betrays its submissive attitude to the centre or rather BJP. It was also found out (by RTI activist Saket Gokhale) that for phase 5 polls, out of the affidavits for candidate-nomination, which were submitted on March 26, all were uploaded by ECI except that of the BJP candidate for Dhupgiri, Bishnu Pada Ray. As per transparency rules and requirements, such affidavits should be uploaded for all the parties at the same-time, for parity and transparency. But, ECI did not do so.

Also Read: Loss of BJP in Bengal would send a message of assurance across the nation & Mamata Banerjee will win the third term

West Bengal had reported 84.3 percent voter turnout in the first phase of polling on March 27. 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.

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Graffiti to Social Media-All in Bengal BJP are not on same page regarding opposition to Mamata

West Bengal is heading towards the second phase of the assembly election. Away from the limelight of the duels of Mamata vs Suvendu, some finer developments are occurring at places like Siuri, Birbhum.

The candidate-lists released by BJP led to what can be called counter-campaign of sorts, triggered by the anger over the lists. In Birbhum, a few days back, a common message was being spread through various means, “Aadi BJP dichhe daak, Bonge eibar Didi thaak”. The message translates into “it is the call of the old guard of BJP, that Didi (Mamata) stays in Bengal.” After the circulation of this message through wall-graffitis, and social media, the state BJP leadership is caught in a fix, embarrassed.

A Facebook page named BJYM Birbhum had been campaigning for the BJP candidates and on the same page, the message in favour of Mamata Banerjee was flashed. Though it has not been confirmed whether the page is being managed by the Birbhum unit of BJP IT cell, that message pitching for the return of Mamata Banerjee by the Old-guard BJP had created a flurry in the local flow of information through SM. After creating a hue and cry over the social media in West Bengal circles, the message was taken down from the Facebook page.

Over the years, Siuri had seen an increase in the influence of the BJP. Local BJP leaders and their associates in Siuri stated a common view that the former Congress, TMC and Left-front workers and leaders (currently in BJP) who had been taking the bashing, beating, & castigations at the hands of TMC should have been given tickets by the BJP high-command for the ongoing election. But, that did not happen. Hence, the tide is against BJP in such places, where people (who recently joined BJP) are discontented with the saffron brigade.

Also See: What do the manifestos promise as election begins in West Bengal

Violence on discontentment

After the announcement of the second list by BJP with 157 names, across various districts in West Bengal displeased local BJP-workers had started their rampage in the BJP offices. North Bengal had seen the first spate of violence. Jalpaiguri and Harishchandrapur in Maldah also witnessed violence in BJP-offices.

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

The Jalpaiguri office was set ablaze by the local leaders & BJP-party workers. The table, chairs were smashed and the posters of Modi & Dilip Ghosh were torn down to pieces. District Vice president (Jalpaiguri) Alok Chakraborty had said, “The central leadership cannot have their whims and fancies.” Harishchandrapur saw a similar reaction with the party-workers carrying out mayhem at the party office. Slogans of “Dhikkar” were shouted against the North Maldah MP Khogen Murmu. The local leaders there accused that tickets were given in lieu of money. In this context, the TMC leader Mousam Nur had stated, “Our (TMC’s) fight became easier in Maldah.” In Sahapur, Maldah, the electoral office was rampaged by around 200 BJP-party workers.

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South Bengal also saw similar reactions from the displeased party workers of BJP. The party office in Durgapur was locked down. Selection of independent candidates had begun in order to teach the high command of BJP a lesson. Places like Ranaghat and Kalyani also saw outburst of displeasure of the local BJP-workers. In Murshidabad, demand was raised to change the candidate.