The second phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in 50 constituencies in Birbhum, Nadia and Murshidabad districts on Saturday. Around 93.51 lakh voters will decide the fate of 293 contesting candidates. The Election Commission (EC) has made an unprecedented security arrangement to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections with the deployment of the Central paramilitary forces in every 11,531 polling stations.
State chief electoral officer Sunil Gupta said, “The total number of voters in the second phase is 93,51,325. The total number of candidates who are in the fray is 293. We have set up 11,531 polling stations in these three districts.”
The Commission has deployed 54,505 polling personnel to conduct elections on Saturday. Elaborating on the security arrangement for the polls, he informed that all booths will be manned by the Central forces. “We appeal to the voters to come to the polling stations and cast their votes without any fear as we have made a very strong security arrangement,” Mr Gupta added.
Deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi also expressed his satisfaction over the security arrangement for the second phase in the six-phased Assembly polls in the state. It has been learnt that around 480 companies of the Central forces will be deployed in those three districts on Saturday.
The EC has identified close to 3,100 polling stations as critical ones. “The critical polling stations will either be covered by digital camera or video camera or live web casting or micro observers,” Mr Gupta informed.
The international border and the inter-state borders have been sealed during the polling.
In the 2006, the number of Assembly constituencies in Birbhum, Nadia and Murshidabad was 47, which had gone up to 50 after delimitation of seats.