7-part poll over 44 days in Bengal, Kolkata seats to vote on June 1 final day
Times of India | 17 March 2024
KOLKATA: Bengal will vote in seven phases over a 44-day period in what is largely a replication of the 2019 Lok Sabha template, with polling kicking off on April 19 in north Bengal's Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri and gradually moving down to conclude on June 1 in nine crucial south Bengal seats - Kolkata North, Kolkata South, Jadavpur, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Joynagar, Mathurapur and Diamond Harbour.
In 2019, the seven-phase LS polls that had also started in North Bengal and ended with the same nine seats in South Bengal had lasted 39 days. The eight-phase assembly poll in 2021 was completed in 33 days.
EC sources said 920 companies of central forces had been requisitioned for Bengal, the highest for any state. Chief electoral officer Aariz Aftab indicated force deployment would vary phase-wise depending on the "vulnerability and sensitivity of booths". Maximum deployment was likely for the nine South Bengal seats on June 1, the officials said.
CEO Aftab said while central forces would man polling station gates, they might be called inside booths by the presiding officer, if required. Webcasting would be held in over 42,000 critical booths.
Poll bandwagon moves to S Bengal from 5th phase
The second phase on April 26 will see Darjeeling, Raiganj and Balurghat go to polls. After a long pause, the third phase on May 7 will see voting shift to Malda North and South, Jangipur and Murshidabad. Behrampore in Murshidabad, however, will not vote with other seats in the district on the day but in the fourth phase on May 20 with Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Bolpur, Birbhum, Burdwan East, Burdwan-Durgapur and Asansol.
From the fifth phase on May 20, the poll bandwagon will settle firmly in South Bengal. The two 24 Parganas along with Bongaon, Barrackpore, Serampore, Hooghly, Arambag, Howrah and Uluberia will vote in this phase. Five days later, Tamluk, Contai, Ghatal, Jhargram, Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura, and Bishnupur will vote in the sixth phase. The last phase on June 1 will see Bengal's urban heartland cast its vote. Two assembly bypolls will be held along with the LS polls - Bhagawangola in Murshidabad on May 7 and Baranagar in on June 1.
EC officials said over one lakh non-bailable arrest warrants had been executed in Bengal while cops had seized Rs 68 crore unaccounted cash on March 1.