Over 57.3 million electors will decide the electoral fate of 4,023 candidates in fray for the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday.
Polling will also take place for 152 of the 294 of West Bengal Assembly in the first of the two phases, including all 54 in north Bengal’s eight districts and several in Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum, and Hooghly. Of the state’s total 64.4 million electors, 36 million electors will be eligible to vote in the first phase in Bengal.
The election in Bengal is taking place under the shadow of the special intensive revision (SIR), and a record deployment of security forces. The Election Commission (EC) has deployed 2,450 companies of central forces, with more than 8,000 polling stations identified as highly sensitive.
The first phase is crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has held sway in North Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections if it is to unseat the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The BJP won 59 (of its total 77) of the 152 seats that will go to poll in the first phase in the 2021 Assembly polls against the Trinamool’s tally of 93 (of its total 215 seats).
The deletion of electors as part of the SIR has caused uncertainty in both the camps, that of the ruling TMC, as also the BJP, which emerged the principal Opposition party in the 2021 polls. More than 9.1 million names were deleted from the state’s voter list during the exercise, shrinking Bengal’s electorate by nearly 12 per cent.
Apart from its focus on infiltration and citizenship as the central planks of its campaigns, the BJP has flagged the safety of women as a key issue. It has sharpened its attack on the TMC for voting against the 131st constitution amendment Bill that sought to advance the 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures to 2029. The support of women has been crucial in elections over the years from the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC. The TMC and BJP have promised welfare schemes for women.
The stakes for the BJP are lower in Tamil Nadu, where it is contesting as a junior partner of its ally, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led alliance against the ruling DMK-led Secular Progress Alliance, which also comprises the Congress and the Left parties. The entry of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor-turned-politician, has made the contest a three-cornered one. In Tamil Nadu, the principal alliances have reached out to women electors with promises of providing financial assistance to purchase home appliances.
In a development related to the ongoing elections, the EC on Wednesday took “serious note” of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “terrorist” and issued him with a “stern notice,” officials said. He has been asked to explain his stand within 24 hours, they said. Kharge on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Modi of “terrorising” political parties by misusing government machinery and central agencies to stifle the Opposition, triggering strong reactions from the BJP, which attacked the Opposition leader for calling Modi a “terrorist”.
The EC on Wednesday said poll-related seizures, including cash, drugs and liquor meant to allure voters, have crossed the ₹1,000 crore mark in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The seizures include ₹127.67 crore in cash, nearly 41,000 litres of liquor worth ₹106.3 crore, drugs worth nearly ₹184 crore and precious metals such as gold and silver worth ₹215 crore. Authorities have also seized freebies worth ₹418 crore, the EC said.
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