In West Bengal, 7-phase polling raises TMC hackles, enthuses BJP, Congress

The Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, across 42 constituencies. The first phase of the elections in the state will kick off in north Bengal on April 19, while Kolkata will vote in the final phase on June 1.

Soon after the declaration of poll dates, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for holding the elections in the state over seven phases, while doing it in some other big states in one or two phases. The Mamata Banerjee-led party also alleged that seven phases will help the BJP to use money power during the elections.

At a news conference, senior party leader and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said, “We wanted single or two- phase polling in the state. We feel that a multiple-phase election helps political parties with deeper pockets, and gives them an advantage over others. When the 2021 Assembly elections were held in eight phases, it was said that this was being done due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But what is the reason for holding elections in seven phases this time? There is no valid reason from the ECI.”

The party pointed out that elections in big states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are being held in single phase, while Karnataka and Rajasthan will have two-phase elections.

The TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said that not taking the state government’s views into account was a disregard for the federal structure of the country. “The state government’s views were not taken into account. This is a disregard of the federal structure. We fail to understand the reasons for holding such a long election. This is quite surprising,” he said.

In 2019, the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal were held in seven phases from