West Bengal Elections 2021 News Highlights: It’s the assembly elections season in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Polling happened in a single phase in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 6, while voters in Assam cast their votes in three phases. Polling in Bengal is taking place in eight phases. Of these, six phases have concluded. The polling for the seventh phase is today (April 26). Polling began at 7 am Monday for 34 seats in the seventh phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal, amid tight security and a rampaging second wave of COVID-19. Counting of votes in all states will happen on May 2. In Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is fighting to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s surge at bay. The saffron party has shown a dramatic electoral rise in the state over the last few years. In Assam, the state’s governing BJP is hoping to retain power even as it faces ‘Mahajot’, the joint opposition alliance comprising the Congress, AIUDF and other regional parties. Congress and the Left Front, which are allies in Bengal, are competing for power in Kerala. The Congress-led UDF and the ruling LDF have been winning alternate elections since the early 1980s. Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK has continued its alliance with the BJP amid a challenge from MK Stalin-led DMK and its alliance partners. However, one of the key things to watch out for in the southern state is how some of the smaller parties – including that of actor Kamal Haasan and TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK – may impact the poll outcome. With their government having collapsed due to defections weeks before the election, V Narayanasamy-led Congress is battling the BJP-NR Congress alliance in Puducherry.
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West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Holding election constitutional obligation, BJP followed all EC protocols: Nadda
BJP president J P Nadda on Monday said holding polls is a "constitutional obligation that the Election Commission has to fulfil", hours after the Madras High Court criticised the panel for not doing enough to stop political parties from flouting COVID-19 protocols.
The BJP has observed all health protocols and guidelines of the Election Commission, Nadda said, addressing a press conference here to mark the end of campaigning for the eight-phase Bengal elections."Holding elections is a constitutional obligation which the Election Commission has to fulfil. Be it an institution or someone sitting in an institution, one should be mindful of modesty in his words," the BJP president said, without taking any name.
Expressing confidence that the BJP will win the polls in Bengal with a thumping majority, he said that the election, this time, was "unprecedented and unique".
"The TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, has displayed poor ethics. It is unfortunate that a sitting chief minister was barred (by the Election Commission) from campaigning for 24 hours because of immature and irresponsible comments. The BJP, on its part, has maintained high standards of electioneering," the top saffron party leader said.
PTI
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | BJP candidate Parno Mittra tests positive for COVID-19
BJP candidate Parno Mittra on Monday said she has tested positive for COVID-19. Mittra, an actor by profession, is the BJP candidate from Baranagar in North 24 Parganas where the election was held on April 17.
"I wish to share an important update with everyone. I have tested COVID positive. I request whoever has been in, or come into, contact with me in the last 7 days, please do quarantine yourselves, get tested and take care. Lastly, please continue to be safe and wear mask," she said.
Mittra is among the slew of candidates, cutting across party lines, to be diagnosed with COVID-19 amid the elections.
PTI
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | 75.06% voter turnout recorded till 5:31 pm: EC
Around 75.06 percentvoter turnout recorded was till 5:31pm in the seventh phase of West Bengal Assembly elections, theElection Commission of India said. The final numbers are expected to be marginally higher.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Mamata welcomes Madras HC order, demands withdrawal of central forces who may be infected with Covid
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded withdrawal of central forces to contain covid spread in West Bengal in the next phase of polling, while welcoming the Madras High Courts observations that the Election Commission could not avoid blame for the spread of Covid.
"I welcome the Madras High Court order, which clearly said the EC cannot escape its responsibility. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and EC are responsible for the (current) situation (of Covid spreading in the state)," Banerjee alleged at a workers meeting in North Kolkata where party candidates and workers were present.
Earlier on Monday,Madras High Court had lashed out at the Election Commissionover the conduct of Assembly polls amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice S Ramamoorthy termed the EC as most irresponsible while hearing a public interest writ seeking directions to ensure fair counting of votes on May 2 in Karur by taking steps to ensure adherence to Covid-19 protocols.
PTI
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | 67.72 percent polling recorded till 3:31 pm: EC
A total of 67.27% voter turnout was recorded till 3.31 pm in the seventh phase of West Bengal Assembly elections, the Election Commission said. The numbers are expected to go up as a couple of hours still remainbefore the polling stations closed. The voting is being held under strict COVID-19 safety protocols.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | EC transfers more police officers in Bengal
The Election Commissiontransferred a few police officers as West Bengal voted in the seventh phase of assembly polls on Monday, officials said. Shantanu Sinha Biswas, an inspector at the Directorateof Economic Offences, was transferred to the office of the DIG Jalpaiguri Range as a crime inspector, they said. Sinha was accused by the BJP of manipulating postal ballots.
Srimanta Kumar Bandopadhyay, the Assistant Commissioner of Asansol-Durgapur Police, was named the newSub-divisional Police Officer of Bolpur, as per an order issued on Sunday night. Shubhendra Kumar, the present SDPO of Bolpur, was diagnosed with COVID-19. Nihar Ranjan Roy, the circle inspector of Krishnaganj in Krishnanagar police district, was made the new inspector in charge of the Murshidabad police station, replacing Atish Das, the order said.
Das was moved to the Police Directorate, it added. The Election Commission has been making a slew of transfers as the state voted.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | JP Nadda accuses Mamata of misleading people on Covid vaccination
BJP president J P NaddaMonday accused Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee of misleading people of West Bengal on various issues, ranging from "insider-outsider" to Covid vaccination during the campaigning for the assembly elections in the state. Nadda also asserted his party had upheld the culture
and legacy of Bengalas against the insulting language adopted by Banerjee against the BJP leadership.
"During the campaign for the eight-phase elections, which comes to an end on Monday, Mamata Banerjee has made all efforts to mislead the people of Bengal and to instigate them using issues like insider-outsider and culture," he said addressing a virtual public meeting here.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
55.12 percent voter turnout recorded till 1 pm in 34 assembly seats where polling is underway in seventh phase
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
In the Jamuria constituency, Left Front candidateAishe Ghosh alleged that her party agents were stopped from entering the booth by TMC workers, a charge denied by the ruling party. Voting will continue till 6.30 pm.
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A few incidents of scuffle were reported from theAsansol area, where TMC candidate Sayoni Ghosh claimed that BJP activists tried to jam booths in her constituency. The allegation was dubbed as baseless by BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul, who asserted, "Ghosh is making excuses sensing defeat". Meanwhile, there was commotion in Rash Behari constituency after BJP candidate Lt Gen (retd) Subrata Saha's agent was accused of molesting women voters inside a polling booth, police said.
Mohan Rao was detained after several women voters claimed he tried to drag them holding their hands inside Bidya Bharati School, a police officer said. Rao, however, rubbished the allegations and said no such incident had taken place. "We have received a complaint in this regard and a probe is underway," the officer said. (PTI)
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Stray violence marks first half of seventh phase
Stray incidents of violencewere reported Monday from some areas where voting is underway for the seventh phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal, though the overall polling process has been peaceful with 37.02 per cent turnout till 11 am, officials said. Long queues were seen outside most polling booths where voting is underway, adhering to Covid protocols, they said.
Voting is being held at 12,068 polling stations spread over nine assembly constituencies each in Murshidabad and Paschim Bardhaman districts, six each in Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda and four in Kolkata, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's home turf Bhabanipur. "Till 11 am, 37.72 per cent voter turnout wasrecorded. The polling has been peaceful so far," an Election Commission official said. (PTI)
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
According to figures from the Voter Turnout mobile application, 37.72 percent polling was recorded till 12.50 pm in 34 assembly seats. Following is the district-wise voter turnout:
Dakshin Dinajpur - 39.7 percent
Kolkata South - 27.54 percent
Malda - 39.96 percent
Murshidabad - 42.41 percent
Paschim Bardhaman - 34.4 percent
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
According to figures from the Voter Turnout mobile application, 37.72 percent polling was recorded till 11.40 am in 34 assembly seats. Following is the district-wise voter turnout:
Dakshin Dinajpur - 39.7 percent
Kolkata South - 27.54 percent
Malda - 39.96 percent
Murshidabad - 42.41 percent
Paschim Bardhaman - 34.4 percent
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
The Election Commission has deployed 26 general observers, 9 expenditure observers and 6 police observers for the 7th phase of polls. There will be webcasting facilities in 50 per cent of the booths and micro-observers will be deployed in 20 per cent of the booths.
Of the total 11,376 booths, 5,028 are considered highly sensitive. According to the Election Commission data, Murshidabad with 1,680 sensitive booths has the highest number of sensitive booths followed by West Burdwan that has 1,428 sensitive booths. Apart from that Malda and South Dinajpur have 1,120 and 420 sensitive booths respectively. The four constituencies of Kolkata have 380 sensitive booths.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | 17.95% polling recorded in first 3 hrs in Bengal
Heavy polling was recorded in the first three hours in the seventh phase of Bengal Assembly elections where people of 34 constituencies across five districts are out to exercise their franchise. According to the initial data released by the Election Commission, the state recorded a voter turnout of 17.95 per cent with Murshidabad district recording the highest polling of 19.53 per cent.
According to the data, South Kolkata where polling is being held in 4 constituencies, recorded the lowest of 13.07 per cent. Malda with 6 constituencies recorded a polling of 18.85 per cent followed by South Dinajpur where 18.77 per cent polling was recorded from the 6 constituencies and the 9 constituencies of West Burdwan recorded a polling of 17.24 per cent.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
17.47% voter turnout recorded till 9:32 am during the seventh phase of the West Bengal Assembly Election.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Curtains down on bitter Bengal campaign today; Mamata Banerjee rallied in wheelchair for 44 days
It will be curtains for the bitter West Bengal election campaign on April 26, which saw Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rallying around the state in a wheelchair for the last 44 days while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brought in all its big guns from New Delhi led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for over 20 rallies. COVID-19 dominated the discourse at the fag end of the election campaign, with Banerjee accusing the Centre of “sleeping at the wheel” as the second wave hit the country, and last week, promised free vaccination for all Bengal residents if voted back to power. BJP had to follow up the very next day with a similar promise.
Attacks on the Centre over the COVID-19 issue have come unabated from the chief minister. She accused the Centre on April 25 of“diverting Oxygen supply of West Bengal to Uttar Pradesh” and said the Centre exported vaccines when India was in dire needof the same. Continue reading...
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TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee casts his vote for 7th phase of West Bengal Elections at Mitra Institution in Bhowanipore, Kolkata. "Extremely confident that Mamata Banerjee will be back with 2/3rd majority...People are dying but EC is conducting 8-phase polls to benefit a party," he said. (ANI)
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Veteran TMC leader pitted against actor-turned-BJP greenhorn in Bhabanipur
A seasoned actor but a greenhornin electoral politics, Rudranil Ghosh, has been fielded by the BJP from the prestigious Bhabanipur assembly constituency in
south Kolkata, a seat left by Bengal Chief Minister and TMC boss Mamata Banerjee as she chose to contest the polls from Nandigram. The TMC chief had described the seat, of which she is the sitting MLA and a resident, as her "boro bon" (elder sister) at a poll rally in Nandigram, and reposed faith in veteran politician and state power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay to make a hat-trick of wins for the party.
Under the shadow of Banerjee's influence, the assembly segment has been the stronghold of the ruling TMC since it came into being for the second time in 2011, following the delimitation exercise.For Chattopadhyay, who had fought assembly electionsseven times and won each of the contests, the constituency is
his home turf as he is a resident of the area and exercises his franchise there. (PTI)
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
Elections to two assembly constituecies - Samserganjand Jangipur in Murshidabad district - have been adjourned
following the death of two coronavirus-positive candidates. The EC has fixed May 16 as the date for polling in these two seats.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Voting begins in 34 constituencies for seventh phase
Polling began at 7 am on Monday for 34 seats in the seventh phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal, amid tight security and a rampaging second wave of COVID-19.Long queues were seen outside most polling booths where voting is underway adhering to Covid protocols.
Over 86 lakh voters will decide the political fate of 284 candidates in this phase. Security measures have been heightened in view of the violence in the previous phases, particularly the death of five people in Cooch Behar in the fourth round of polling on April 10, an Election Commission official said. The poll panel has deployed at least 796 companies of central forces in the seventh phase to ensure free and fair voting, he said. Continue reading...
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Campaigning for the seventh phase has been a low-key affair, following curbs imposed by the EC in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 cases in the state. Following the surge in coronavirus cases across the country, the EC has banned roadshows and vehicle rallies in the state and noted that the COVID safety norms were being flouted in West Bengal during campaigning.
It also disallowed any public meeting with more than 500 people. The Election Commission has curtailed daily campaign hours and extended the "silence period" from 48 hours to 72 in each of the remaining three phases of the assembly polls in view of the Cooch Behar violence and the rising COVID-19 cases.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | All eyes on the Bhabanipur constituency
Voting will be held at 12,068 polling stations spreadover nine assembly constituencies each in Murshidabad and Paschim Bardhaman districts, six each in Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda and four in Kolkata. All eyes will be on the Bhabanipur constituency, of which the TMC supremo is the sitting MLA and a resident.Banerjee, however, has opted for Nandigram to contest the elections this time and reposed faith in veteran politician and state power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay to make a hat-trick of wins for the party from Bhabanipur.
Chattopadhyay is pitted against a seasoned actor but a greenhorn in electoral politics, Rudranil Ghosh, who left the ruling party a few months ago to join the BJP.
West Bengal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | 34 constituencies to go to polls in 7th phase
Over 86 lakh voters in WestBengal will decide the political fate of 284 candidates on Monday, when 34 assembly constituencies, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's home turf Bhabanipur, go to polls in the seventh phase, amid a raging second wave of COVID-19.
Security measures have been heightened in view of theviolence in the previous phases, particularly the death of five people in Cooch Behar in the fourth round of polling on April 10, an Election Commission official said.
Hello and welcome to Moneycontrol’s LIVE coverage of the polling for seventh phase of the West BengalAssembly election 2021.
It’s the assembly elections season in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Tnerritory of Puducherry. Polling happened in a single phase in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 6, while voters in Assam cast their votes in three phases. Polling in Bengal is happening in eight phases. Of these, five phases have concluded. Seventh phase polling is today
Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for the latest updates through the day.
