New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called upon voters to participate in large numbers as polling for the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 got underway.
Posting on X, the Prime Minister said, “Today is Phase-2 of the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026. Urging all those voting today to do so in record numbers and make our democracy more vibrant as well as participative. It is important that the women and youth of West Bengal, in particular, turnout in large numbers and exercise their franchise.”
Voting for the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections is underway, with a key focus on the battle between Trinamool’s Mamata Banerjee and BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari on the Bhabanipur seat.
Since 2011, the Bhabanipur seat has been a Trinamool stronghold, held by the party chief, Mamata Banerjee.
The polls are being held in 142 constituencies spread across seven districts. Of these, the Trinamool won 123 seats, the BJP 18, and the Left one in the 2021 Assembly polls.
Voters have started arriving to cast their votes at a pink polling station set up at Hiralal Majumdar College in the 112 Kamarhati Assembly constituency for the second phase of the Assembly election.
The total number of registered electors in these 142 Assembly constituencies, as per the records of the Election Commission of India (ECI), is 3,21,73,837, which is nearly 64 per cent of the total population of 5,00,13,786 across those constituencies.
Of the 3,21,73,837 registered electors, 1,64,35,627 are male voters, 1,57,37,418 are female voters, and 792 are third gender voters.
Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) have been provided to all the 3,21,73,837 registered electors, as per the information provided by the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
The number of voters aged 100 years or above is 3,243, while the number of voters aged 85 or above is 1,96,801. There are a total of 146 Non-Resident Indian (NRI) voters, and 39,961 are service voters.
A total of 1,448 candidates are in the fray for these 142 Assembly constituencies going to polls in the second phase on Wednesday.
The number of male candidates is 1,228, while the number of female candidates is 220. There is not a single third gender candidate.
Of the 142 Assembly constituencies going for polls on Wednesday, 107 are in the general category, while 34 constituencies are reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) and one is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST).
The results will be declared on May 4.
(IANS)
