The first phase of voting in the assembly elections is underway in the Indian state of West Bengal after weeks of campaigning.
Voting began at 7 am local time on Thursday in a total of 152 constituencies in 16 districts and will continue until 6 pm.
The main contest in this year’s assembly elections is expected to be between the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state and the ruling BJP at the center of India, in what Indian media is calling a “desperate fight in the midst of a political storm” over the revision of the voter list.
The Election Commission has taken strict security measures for the elections. Many are calling this strictness a ‘war preparation’.
Voting for the assembly elections has begun in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, as well as West Bengal, on this day.
Anandabazar Patrika reported that voters started queuing outside various booths in 16 districts since morning. These districts are Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda in North Bengal; Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, Murshidabad, Paschim Burdwan and Birbhum in South Bengal. Voting is going on in 152 constituencies in these districts and the total number of voters is around 3.6 million.
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