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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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Shobha Majumdar-a BJP worker’ 80 yr old mother passes away-was allegedly assaulted by TMC cadres

In Nimta, West Bengal, an 80-year-old woman was allegedly attacked by TMC cadres in February. She passed away Monday morning four days after being released from hospital, sources revealed. The deceased woman was Shobha Majumdar, mother of BJP worker Gopal Majumdar. On February 27, Shobha was assaulted by three TMC workers. An FIR was also registered in this regard.

This incident which led to the death of the 80 year old mother of the BJP worker shows the spectre of political violence in the state.

The state BJP leadership has questioned the state’s ruling party, TMC, pointing specifically to Mamata Banerjee with regards to the death. The BJP leadership asked whether Shobha was not the daughter of Bengal. The saffron camp has demanded strict punishment against the perpetrators of the attack which resulted in the death.

The BJP IT-cell in-charge for Bengal election, Amit Malviya commented on the death of Shobha stating, “ TMC’s politics of violence has bruised the Bengal’s soul.”

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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.

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

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.

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Button pressed for TMC, VVPAT slip showing BJP, at Kanthi

In a polling station at Kanthi (Contai, Purba Medinipur district) West Bengal, a voter complained that after he pressed the button and voted for TMC, the VVPAT gave the slip denoting the vote for BJP. That led to a ruckus at the site and protests against the Election Commission of India. There were also incidents in places like Bhagabanpur, Purba Medinipur, where the saffron camp tried to influence the SOPs of the election commission.

The first phase of election in West Bengal concluded on Saturday with few incidents of clashes and complaints regarding EVM machines from various polling-stations.

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

In the same context, the Election commission of India had changed its rules for the polling agents, which were framed in 2009. The 2009 rules mandated that the polling agent needs to be a voter under that polling station or an adjacent one. The new rules were released on March 26, a day prior to the beginning of the election in West Bengal, and relaxed the requirement underlined by the 2009 rules. A delegation of ten TMC leaders including Derek O’brien has rasied a notice with the  ECI to reverse the change in the rules.

Sources on the condition of anonymity stated that the rules were changed to provide leverage to BJP to get polling agents from across the state, when the saffron camp is having trouble getting polling agents.

All of this, especially the Kanthi incident, begs a question, ie is Election Commission of India playing stooge at the hands of the saffron camp?

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.

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Controversy erupts over a video file purportedly showing Mamata seeking help from BJP leader-suspicion of video-doctoring

mamta vs suvendu

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.

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

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.

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Play of Congress vs BJP in Assam- picture of the assembly constituencies tell seat share to vote share metric has helped BJP

bjp vs congress

In Assam election, as many as 264 candidates from different political parties including Independent candidates will contest in the first phase of polling.

As per data in the State Election Commission, there are a total of 81,09,815 registered voters in the first-phase of polls. Altogether 946 candidates are in the fray for the three-phased election to the 126-member Assam Legislative Assembly. The vote counting will be held on May 2.

The Congress, which ruled the state for 15 years from 2001 to 2016, has changed its electoral tactics and stitched together an alliance to leverage the consolidation of a previously fragmented anti-BJP vote base to recapture power in the state.

BJP used alliances to strengthen its political position and became a dominant player in the state. The party contested 13 out of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and won seven of them. While the Congress was seen as the biggest loser due to the BJP’s rise, & its seat tally came down from seven in the 2009 elections to just three. Congress was not the only party that lost ground due to the BJP’s rise. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) suffered a massive fall in its vote share and failed to open its account in the state. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) actually recorded its best performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha, winning the same number of seats as the Congress, despite a smaller vote share.

An Assembly Consituency (AC)-wise disaggregation of the 2014 Lok Sabha results show that the BJP crossed the majority mark in the state on its own. After that, it did not take the risk of going it alone in the 2016 assembly elections, even though the Congress was facing strong anti-incumbency after having been in power for 15 years. The BJP formed a tripartite alliance, including the AGP and the Bodoloand People’s Front (BPF), in which the BJP kept 71% of the ACs for itself. This strategy paid off, and the BJP ended up with a seat share of 47.6% despite getting just 29.5% of the total votes polled. While the BJP’s alliance partners added 26 more ACs to the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) tally, giving the NDA a two-thirds majority, they could not match the BJP’s performance. The Congress, which contested the polls on its own, could win only 20.6% of the ACs despite having a greater vote share than the BJP. A comparison of strike rates, which is the “seats won as percentage of seats contested”, and seat share to vote share ratio, a useful metric of a party’s ability to convert popular support into seats, of key parties, underlines the success of the BJP’s electoral tactics in Assam.

As per the list of candidates announced by INC until March 18, Congress is contesting 95 out of the 126 ACs in Assam. The AIUDF is expected to contest 21 seats, while the BPF has declared a list of eight candidates so far. The Congress’s two regional allies have geographically concentrated support bases in the state. In 2014, when the AIUDF recorded one of its best-ever performances in the state, 94% of its votes were concentrated in the Barak Valley, Central Assam, and Lower Assam subregions, which accounted for 65% of the total votes polled in the state and 61% of ACs (77 of 126). The BPF, when it contested on its own in 2011, managed just 6.1% of the total votes in the state, which was mostly concentrated in the Lower Assam and North Assam subregions. Even if one were to add the AIUDF’s vote to the Congress in the 2014, 2016, and 2019 elections, its seat share will not increase significantly. The Congress’s seat distribution so far, though, has been in line with the performance of its alliance partners in the 2016 assembly election, with each partner contesting seats where their strike rate was the best. However, it is Congress that will have to deal with the BJP and the AGP. The strike rate of the BJP and the AGP was better in seats the Congress is contesting than in those where the AIUDF is.

Also Read: Assam election: Will ask for your vote, then you need to prove your citizenship

Thnderbolt of BJP in Assam- Himanta Biswa Sarma

As BJP’s face in the northeast, Himanta Biswa Sarma has an astute political instinct that he has used to his advantage to stay ahead in the game. Firefighting is his forte. After all, he did convince a sitting legislator in the Assam assembly (Shiladitya Dev) not to contest as an Independent against the party’s official candidate, after being denied ticket, a move that could have played heavily against BJP, had Dev gone through with his plans.

Sarma, who is 52-year-old, has been a key figure in Assam politics for two decades now. He quit Tarun Gogoi’s Congress government in 2015 to join the BJP, and has had a meteoric rise in the saffron party and his influence is not restricted to Assam but can be seen across the region.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, a year before the election, in 2015, switched sides to the BJP. His political acumen and oratorical skills played a key role in BJP winning 60 of the total 126 seats in 2016 and forming the party’s first government in Assam with alliance partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF). Despite being new to the party, Sarma was given four crucial departments, health, education, finance, and public works, in the Sarbananda Sonowal cabinet.

Sarma was also appointed as the convener of North East Demoratic Alliance (NEDA), a BJP-led front of anti-Congress parties in the northeast. As the convenor,  he shared a close rapport with senior politicians in all seven states of the region.

After Assam, BJP won Manipur in the 2017 state elections, despite having 21 seats- seven less than Congress in the 60 member assembly. Sarma’s role was crucial in this victory as well.

Over the past 5 years, Himanta Biswa Sarma is a known face across the country-a rarity for politicians from the northeast.  Using his position in the Assam cabinet and in NEDA, he has made his mark beyond the region and is consulted by the BJP leadership for any issue concerning Assam and the region and, more often than not, his suggestions are accepted.

H B Sarma has been representing the Jalukbari seat continuously since 2001 and this time too the party gave him a ticket from the seat. Even though he had made his intentions of not contesting the 2021 state election, the party announced his candidature along with the names of candidates for the first phase that goes to the polls on March 27. Sarma’s constituency Jalukbari, goes into polls only in the third phase on April 6.

The elections in Assam will be held in three phases and it will begin on March 27, with the vote counting and declaration of results scheduled on May 02.

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End of the campaign for the first phase of Bengal election for 30 assembly seats

Bengal election

At 5 pm, yesterday (Thursday) the curtains came down on the high decibel campaign in 30 assembly seats in West Bengal where polls are scheduled in the first phase on March 27.

The campaign for the 30 seats saw leaders of BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition to the ruling party in the state Trinamool Congress, addressing poll rallies in Purulia, Jhargram, and Bankura districts.

In one of the rallies of BJP, state party president Dilip Ghosh had made an indecent comment on Mamata Banerjee about her injury and her wearing saree.

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

The 30 seats on which the first phase of West Bengal elections would take place are spread across tribal-dominated (Jangalmahal) Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Purba Medinipur (Part 1) and Paschim Medinipur (Part 1) districts which were once considered the citadel of the Left in the state.

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Beef is national dish of India, said Banendra Kumar Mushahary; FIR registered by Purbanchal Hindu Aikya Mancha

A BJP-candidate in poll-bound Assam claimed that “beef is the ‘National Dish’ of India.” Banendra Kumar Mushahary, BJP candidate from Gauripur constituency claimed that Beef is the national food of India, throwing the saffron party into an embarrassing chaos of protests.

Election Commission of India has taken a strong exception to BJP’s candidate from Gauripur constituency, Banendra Kumar Mushahary, for his “beef is national dish” remark. The ECI has filed an FIR against BJP candidate Mushahary at the Gauripur Police Station.

Also Read: Will ask for your vote, then you need to prove your citizenship

While the saffron party has been rabble-rousing over Hindutvavad, over the last 6-7 years which had led to lynching of people from minority community based mostly on mere doubts of cattle-smuggling, by cow-vigilantes, its leaders are now caught flummoxed over the comment of Banendra Kumar Mushahary.

Pandering to the minority community, he put forth a rhetoric, “How can anyone try to ban beef? It is the National Dish of India.” Banendra had joined BJP last year and was trying to woo the minority voters. He further added, “Beef is an international dish. Educated Muslims in the rural areas of Assam should understand that no one can ban the sale of beef in Assam or anywhere in India.”

Also Read: Nadda & Shah campaigning hard for Assam election 2021-criticized INC for politics of opportunism

Members of Purbanchal Hindu Aikya Mancha have registered an FIR against the leader at Dispur Police Station, Guwahati.  Banendra Kumar Mushahary, a Bodo leader, was first elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly in 1996 as an independent candidate from Gauripur constituency in Dhubri district. He was also associated with the Asom Gana Parishad.

During elections, the best place for ideologies and principles is in fact in the gutter, because the ultimate thing that matters for the leaders is the number of votes, irrespective of whether the leaders are hurting the sentiments of any community or pandering to any other community. Case of  Mushahary highlights this aspect of Indian electoral polity.

The elections in Assam will be held in three phases and it will begin on March 27, with the vote counting and declaration of results scheduled on May 02.

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Mithun Chakraborty who called himself a pure cobra at Brigade rally is missing from candidate-list of BJP

Mithun Chakraborty who called himself a pure cobra at Brigade rally is missing from candidate-list of BJP

Mithun Chakraborty is missing from the complete roster of the 294 candidates announced by BJP.   On Tuesday, BJP announced the final list of 13 candidates for the upcoming election in West Bengal.

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

The seat of Rashbehari, many believed, was reserved for the ‘Dada’ of Bengali cinema, Mithun Chakraborty, but in that seat BJP has fielded retired Lt General Subrata Saha. Chakraborty had shared the dais with Modi at the BJP’s Brigade Parade Ground rally in Kolkata on March 7, which saw a scanty response.

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

In that rally Mithun Chakraborty had said, “I am not a harmless water snake or a harmless desert snake. I am a pure cobra. With one strike, I will turn you into a photograph.” The comment had led to a rousing reception. But, his non-inclusion in the candidate-list came as a dampener. He had also recently enlisted as a voter in Cossipore-Belgachhia constituency, Kolkata, transferring his voting card from Mumbai.

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

Chakraborty is scheduled to campaign in Nandigram on March 30 for Suvendu Adhikari. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to be present at that road-show.

Former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri, fielded earlier from Alipurduar in North Bengal and then replaced, is back as candidate from Balurghat.

A key change in the list published pertains to Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district where the new candidate is Subrata Thakur. He is the brother of Shantanu Thakur, the BJP MP representing the Matua community, believed to be upset with the party for failing to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and lifting the uncertainty over their citizenship.

The schedule for the upcoming elections in India (four states and a UT) was announced on February, 26, 2021. In West Bengal, the election will be held in 8 phases from March 27 to April, 29 and the vote counting will take place on May, 02, 2021.