Kolkata, April 16: The high-voltage campaign for Sunday’s crucial second phase of polls in 56 assembly constituencies in West Bengal came to an end Friday evening.
Altogether 383 candidates, including 33 women, are fighting for the 56 seats which are spread over seven districts – Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda and Birbhum.
An electorate of over 1.2 crore are eligible to exercise their franchise in the crucial phase.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and a host of Union ministers campaigned for BJP candidates in this phase, while the star campaigner for the Congress was Sonia Gandhi.
Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee spearheaded her party’s campaign throughout the state.
CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra was the most visible face of the Left who led their campaign. CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury also canvassed for votes in this phase.
Corruption, Narada sting operation, Saradha chit fund scam and alleged muzzling of democracy under the present administration were the principal issues highlighted by the opposition parties during their electioneering.
The Prime Minister in his poll speeches attacked Banerjee, accusing her of making an “adjustment” with corruption and misleading people with the slogan for change (parivartan) in West Bengal.
He also attacked the Congress-Left alliance in the state, pointing out the “inevitable discrepancy in the unlikely tie-up”.
Chief Minister Banerjee largely concentrated on the development work undertaken by her government. The Congress-Left alliance was the subject of ridicule by Mamata too, with the Trinamool chief describing it as “unprincipled”.
Sonia Gandhi launched a frontal attack on the TMC chief, alleging she did not fulfil her poll promises and said Mamata and Modi as the two sides of the same coin.
Poll analysts will be keenly watching the Siliguri constituency in north Bengal where during the municipal elections last year the Congress-Left experiment had first started.
The high-profile candidates who will try their luck in this phase include Siliguri mayor and former minister Ashok Bhattacharya, former Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia, Soumitra Ray, singer of popular Bengali band ‘Bhoomi’, actor Locket Chatterjee and Joy Banerjee.
State ministers Gautam Deb, Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury and Sabitri Mitra are also in the poll fray in this phase of election.
Mamata faced the ire of the Election Commission which slapped a show-cause notice on her for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by making certain remarks during a rally.
TMC’S Birbhum district president Anubrata Mandal has been courting a number of controversies including allegations that he has been openly intimidating voters.
Taking cognizance, the Election Commission said it had started the process of taking urgent legal action against him after a censure failed to control him.
In the face of opposition’s allegations, the EC had removed Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar and Birbhum SP besides transferring a number of lower level police officers.
