West Bengal goes to phase II of polling; Mamata’s fate to be sealed today

KOLKATA: The second phase of polling got under way in West Bengal in 30 assembly seats, including the high-profile Nandigram seat.

Voting will take place in four districts of South 24Parganas, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purba Medinipur. In the second phase, all eyes will be on Nandigram, where chief minister and All India Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee faces TMC defector and former confidante Suvendu Adhikari.

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On Tuesday, Banerjee's high-voltage campaign for Nandigram came to an end with a massive road show for Suvendu by Amit Shah and a series of public meetings by Banerjee.

Adhikari is a sitting MLA from Nandigram, which is part of the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency, which is currently represented by BJP leader Dibyendu Adhikari's brother.

Tamluk, Haldia, Bankura, Kharagpur Sadar, Chandipur, Panskura Paschim and Moyna are among the main constituencies that will vote in the second phase.

Firoza Bibi of the TMC, who has won twice from Nandigram, is up against Shintu Senapati of the saffron party and Chittaranjan Das Thakur of the Left in Panskura Paschim.

Former cricketer Ashoke Dinda is the BJP candidate in Moyna, running against ruling Trinamool Congress' Sangram Kumar Dolui and Congress's Manik Bhownik. The first round of voting was held on March 27.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda led the BJP's campaign from the front in Phases I and II, speaking at rallies in Kanthi and Nandigram and urging voters to vote for the saffron party to usher in “ashol poriborton” (actual change) and create 'Sonar Bangla' (prosperous Bengal).

The BJP's star campaigners concentrated on the ruling Trinamool Congress's numerous scams, ranging from the Saradha and Narada tape scandals to the latest charges of siphoning off funds for Amphan relief and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Banerjee, who preferred to run from Nandigram rather than her home seat of Bhowanipore in the capital, remained in her wheelchair and campaigned from there. Despite the early summer sun, the fiery politician held two back-to-back rallies in Paschim Medinipur, urging people to vote for TMC so that the government's development work could continue.

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