Hundreds of thousands of people queued up to vote in the fifth phase of the West Bengal Elections on Saturday, April 17, as 45 seats go to polls with more than 300 candidates in the fray. Polling is being held amid a nationwide surge in the cases of the coronavirus disease even as the Election Commission of India decided to limit the time of campaigning for the remaining three phases and extended the silence period to 72 hours for each of the phases. Voting is being held at 15,789 polling stations across these 45 constituencies covering the districts of Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Darjeeling and a segment of Nadia, North 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman in Phase 5 of the West Bengal Assembly Election 2021.
The phase 5 West Bengal Elections is being seen as a key battle for the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is looking to win more than 200 seats in the eastern state. The BJP has maintained a stronghold in 13 constituencies from north Bengal and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s party has been in a comfortable position in those in south Bengal.
As the polling for the fifth phase of the West Bengal assembly elections is being held on Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah appealed to voters for maximum voting turnout and said that every vote will play an important role in restoring the glory of Bengal.
“I appeal to all the voters of the fifth phase of Bengal to vote in maximum number. Your every vote will play an important role in restoring the rights of the farmers of the state, the employment of the youth and the glory of Bengal,” tweeted Shah in Bengali.
