Polling began at 7 a.m. for 25 constituencies covering the Cooch Behar and East Midnapore districts in the sixth and final phase of the staggered month-long polling for the West Bengal assembly elections on Thursday.
Nine of the constituencies are in Cooch Behar district and 16 in East Midnapore.
Over 58 lakh (58,04,019) voters across 6,774 polling stations, including nine auxiliary booths, are eligible to decide the fate of 170 candidates — 18 of them female in this phase. The Election Commission is using 7,790 EVMs and 621 VVPATs.
It is a historic day for the dwellers of the erstwhile enclaves in Cooch Behar who are voting for the first time, marking another giant leap in their absorption into India after nearly seven decades of stateless existence.
Following the implementation of the historic Land Boundary Agreement, Bangladesh and India exchanged 162 adversely-held enclaves on August 1, 2015.
Rising to the occasion, the Election Commission has rolled out the red carpet for the 9,776 first-time voters, besides setting up five model polling stations with facilities for sitting, wheelchairs etc.
In East Midnapore, all eyes are on Nandigram, where a peasants agitation in 2006-07 against the erstwhile Left Front government’s bid to acquire farmland for a chemical hub and special economic zone had triggered police firing that resulted in 14 deaths.
The peasants protest played a pivotal role in the ouster of the Left Front after 34 years in office.
While the Left Front is in fray in 18 seats, the Congress is contesting from four constituencies, with the alliance extending support to three independent candidates.
The Trinamool and the BJP are fighting all the seats.
