The BJP and TMC are the two main parties who will be fighting in these three constituencies. (Images: PTI)
West Bengal Election 2024 Phase 1 Voting LIVE: PM Modi addressed public meetings in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar while TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and party leader Abhishek Banerjee also held several rallies and roadshows in these places
As the first phase of the Lok Sabha election starts today, voting will be taking place in three key constituencies of West Bengal, including Coochbehar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri.
The voting process commences at 7 am across the country.
Alipurduar Constituency
Senior BJP leader Manoj Tigga will be fighting Trinamool Congress’s Prakash Chik Baraik here.. The Left Front has nominated Revolutionary Socialist Party leader Mili Oraon as its candidate.
Coochbehar Constituency
Union Minister of State for Home Nisith Pramanik is taking on TMC’s Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia in Cooch Behar (SC) seat, which saw the death of four persons in firing allegedly by central forces at Sitalkuchi during the 2021 assembly elections, that has been made an issue by the TMC in the current poll campaign also.
Jalpaiguri Costituency
Located in North Bengal, the Jalpaiguri constituency is designated as reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).
In the first phase of voting, Dr. Jayanta Kumar Roy, the incumbent MP from the BJP, is fighting against Nirmal Chandra Roy of the TMC and Debraj Barman representing the CPI-M.
The districts like Darjeeling, Raiganj and Balurghat will go into polls in its second phase on April 26.
Candidate Profiles
The BJP has renominated Jayanta Roy in Jalpaiguri and Pramanik in Cooch Behar but replaced last time’s winner John Barla with the party’s Madarihat MLA Manoj Tigga.
The TMC has, however, changed candidates in all three seats, fielding Prakash Chik Baraik in Alipurduar, Nirmal Chandra Roy in Jalpaiguri and Sitai MLA Basunia in Cooch Behar.
2019 West Bengal Lok Sabha Polls
In 2019, the ruling Trinamool bagged 22 seats compared to the BJP’s 18, with respective vote percentages of 43.3 and 40.7. However in 2021, Mamata Banerjee led the TMC to a landslide victory in the assembly elections, securing an impressive 215 seats.
Despite the BJP’s vigorous campaigning, it only managed to get 77 seats.
The state sends the third-highest number of representatives to the 543-member Lok Sabha, trailing only Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48).
LATEST UPDATES
- The BJP in Bengal has claimed that their party polling agent, Biswanath Paul has been kidnapped from a poll booth by TMC party workers.
- On the alleged stone pelting incident in West Bengal’s Medinipur, Governor CV Ananda Bose said, “Peace and harmony is something that the people of Bengal want and the people of Bengal deserve. It is after the authorities to ensure that there is law and order in the state, especially during the elections. Any perpetrators of violence should be booked and stern action should be taken, that is the responsibility of the Election Commission.”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged people of the 102 constituencies in 21 states and union territories, who are voting today to vote in record numbers.
- In Coochbehar, both TMC and BJP claimed attack on their party workers . Two incidents have come up where workers from both the parties have been hospitalised.
- The ruling TMC has written a letter to the Election Commission alleging that Nishit Pramanik is utilising his position and storing arms in his party office .
- At least 112 companies of central forces and 4,500 state police will be deployed in Cooch Behar, which is almost double compared to the forces deployed in the other two districts.
- The poll panel has decided to deploy 2,454 state police personnel alongside 63 companies of central forces in Alipurduar, officials said.
- There will also be 75 companies of central forces and 3,077 state police in Jalpaiguri.
- The longstanding rivalry between Pramanik and TMC’s Dinhata MLA and North Bengal Development minister Udayan Guha seems to have contributed to the palpable tension in Cooch Behar over the elections.
- The Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) or the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel will be deployed there for the April 19 polls, an EC official has said.
- This comes in view of the death of four persons in a firing allegedly by CISF personnel at a booth in Sitalkuchi during the 2021 assembly polls, following which the Election Commission has decided not to deploy any personnel of that force there.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed public meetings in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar while TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and the party’s number two Abhishek Banerjee also held several rallies and roadshows in these places.
- All three constituencies were won by the BJP in the 2019 general elections. In the 2021 assembly polls, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar remained BJP’s stronghold with the party winning five of seven segments in the first and six in the second constituency, but in Jalpaiguri, the TMC had the upper hand, winning five and the saffron party managed to win two.
(with agency inputs)
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