Assembly Election 2021 Highlights: Polling is underway for 39 seats in Assam and 30 seats in West Bengal in the second phase of assembly elections today (April 1). Assam is voting in three phases and West Bengal in eight phases. In Assam, the fate of 345 candidates, including 26 women, is being decided by over 73.44 lakh voters in this phase. Among those contesting the second phase of the Assam Assembly election are five ministers and the deputy speaker of the outgoing House. In West Bengal, more
than 75 lakh voters will decide the fate of 191 candidates in 30 constituencies, as eyes are set on the Nandigram constituency where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting against her former lieutenant and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to retain power in Assam even as it faces ‘Mahajot’, the joint opposition alliance comprising the Congress, AIUDF and other regional parties. In Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is fighting to keep BJP’s surge at bay. The saffron party has shown a dramatic electoral rise in the state over the last few years. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry are also heading for assembly elections over the next few weeks. Polling will happen in a single phase in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 6. Counting of votes in all states will happen on May 2.