High voltage campaign ends for 7th phase of West Bengal assembly poll

Kolkata: A high voltage campaign for the seventh phase of West Bengal assembly poll ended Friday evening for thirty six constituencies in five districts.

In the poll-bound West Bengal, the high-decibel electioneering campaign for the seventh phase of Assembly Elections reaches a crescendo before its conclusion this evening

In the seventh phase of polling, elections will be held in 5 districts and 36 assembly seats. The districts include Malda Part I, Kolkata South, Murshidabad Part I, West Bardhaman Part and Dakshin Dinajpur on April 26

The thirty six Assembly Constituencies of West Bengal going to polls in the seventh phase are: 1. Kushmandi (SC) 2. Kumarganj 3. Balurghat 4. Tapan (ST) 5. Gangarampur (SC) 6. Harirampur 7. Habibpur (ST) 8. Gazole (SC) 9. Chanchal 10. Harischandrapur 11. Malatipur 12.  Ratua 13. Farakka 14. Samserganj 15. Suti 16. Jangipur 17. Raghunathganj 18. Sagardighi 19.  Lalgola 20. Bhagawangola 21. Raninagar 22. Murshidabad 23. Nabagram (SC) 24. Kolkata Port 25. Bhabanipur 26. Rashbehari 27. Ballygunge 28. Pandabeswar 29. Durgapur Purba 30. Durgapur Paschim 31. Raniganj 32. Jamuria 33. Asansol Dakshin 34. Asansol Uttar 35. Kulti 36. Barabani. 

The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday evening banned road shows, pad-yatras, cycle/bike/vehicle rallies in the state for remaining two phases of the state Assembly polls.

The EC further said that no public meeting beyond the limit of 500 persons will be allowed.

The poll body’s order comes into force will from 1900 hrs on Thursday.

The Election Commission on Thursday issued fresh campaign guidelines for the West Bengal polls, noting that many parties and candidates are not adhering to prescribed safety norms.

“The commission has noted with anguish that many political parties/candidates are still not adhering to prescribed safety norms during the public gatherings and this is making difficult for States/District Election machineries to enforce the directions fully,” the poll body said in the order.

The Election Commission reiterated its direction to all the political parties to strictly adhere to the COVID protocols in all the future rallies in the state. Earlier, the poll body decided to curtail the campaign timing for the remaining phases of eight-phase Assembly Elections.

The Commission banned campaigning from 7 P.M. to 10 A.M. on all days, when it is allowed. It also extended the Silence Period from 48 hours to 72 hours before polling for the remaining phases and as a result, the campaign will end this evening.

In the wake of COVID-19, all the prominent political parties decided not to hold big rallies and public meetings in West Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has virtually addressed the voters in Malda, Murshidabad and Birbhum districts and state capital Kolkata today.

Chief Minister and AITC Chief Mamata Banerjee has also cancelled all the scheduled public meetings.

The polling process is already over in respect of 223 out of the total 294 Assembly seats in the earlier six phases. (UNI)