West Bengal assembly election 2021: Voting underway in 43 constituencies in 6th phase of polls

Kolkata: The West Bengal electoral battlefield is ready for the next bout of ‘Khela’ as the sixth phase of voting for Assembly polls will be held on Thursday (April 22).

The eight-phase election in West Bengal is witnessing an intense fight between BJP and TMC leaders as the 43 constituencies spread across four districts are going for the poll in the sixth phase on Thursday. 

In this phase election will be conducted in nine constituencies each in North Dinajpur and Nadia districts, 17 in North 24 Parganas and eight in East Burdwan where 10,409,948 electorate will decide the fate of 306 candidates among which 27 candidates are female.

Over 1.03 crore voters including 50.65 lakh women and 256 of the third gender are there in this phase of the elections in West Bengal. As many as 14,480 polling stations have been designated in the sixth phase.

Development and unemployment dominate the core issues. However, the districts of North 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman have experienced a bit of development as compared to the other districts. But, the lack of employment opportunities haunts the ruling government.

TMC and BJP are contesting all 43 seats. Congress, the Left parties and the Indian Secular Front have made a coalition and are contesting under the banner of Samyukta Morcha. Out of the 43 seats in this round, Congress has got 12 in its share, CPI(M) got 23, All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) got four and CPI has got two seats. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is also trying its luck and has fielded 37 candidates.

Additionally, the Election Commission will deploy 779 companies of central forces for the sixth phase of the election with special emphasis in the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate area as it had witnessed sporadic violence during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

Whereas the highest deployment of the Commission- 278 companies will be in North 24 Parganas district followed by 181 companies in North Dinajpur district, 163 companies in Nadia district and 157 companies of central forces in East Burdwan district. 

(With Agency inputs)

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