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Kolkata, 28 April. Voting will be held on 142 seats in the second and final phase of West Bengal Assembly elections on Wednesday. In this phase, more than 3.2 crore voters will decide the fate of a total of 1448 candidates, including ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Of the 142 constituencies in the second phase, Trinamool Congress had won 123 seats in the last elections while BJP had won only 18 seats. If Trinamool Congress repeats the 2021 results, the doors of Nabanna (State Secretariat) may open for it once again.

At the same time, if the BJP, which is confident about its prospects in North Bengal, hopes to form the government in Bengal for the first time, then it will have to perform exceptionally well in this phase.

Voting is to be held in these districts in the second phase

In the last phase, voting is to be held in Hooghly (18), Howrah (16), Kolkata (11), Nadia (17), North 24 Parganas (33), East Bardhaman (16) and South 24 Parganas (31) districts. Out of total 1448 candidates, 218 are women and 266 are Muslim candidates. There are 25 women among the Muslim candidates. Trinamool Congress has fielded Muslim candidates on 21 seats in this phase while BJP has fielded Muslim candidates on one seat.

‘millionaire‘ Trinamool ahead among candidates

Another interesting fact is that there are 321 candidates who have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore (known as ‘Crorepati’ candidates). Of these, there are 103 candidates from Trinamool Congress. 73 BJP candidates are crorepatis while 36 Congress candidates have declared their assets more than Rs 1 crore.

BJP’s Palash Rana is the richest candidate, assets worth Rs 104 crore

The richest candidate in the second phase is BJP’s Palash Rana from Raidighi, who has assets worth Rs 104 crore. He is followed by Trinamool candidate from Pandua, Sameer Chakraborty, whose assets are worth Rs 76 crore. In third place is Trinamool candidate from Kasba, Javed Khan, who has assets worth Rs 39 crore.

Of the 10 candidates facing criminal cases, 5 are from BJP.

At the same time, out of the 10 candidates facing the maximum number of criminal cases in this phase, five are from BJP while one is from Trinamool Congress. Trinamool candidate from Pursura, Partha Hazari, has 44 criminal cases against him. Similarly, ISF candidate from Canning East, Arabul Islam also has 44 criminal cases registered against him. The number of unqualified candidates in this stage is 16. 56 candidates have passed 5th class, 169 have passed 8th class and 175 candidates have passed 10th class.

high profile candidate

• Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee (Bhabanipur).
• BJP’s Subhendu Adhikari (Bhabanipur).
• CPM’s Vikas Ranjan Bhattacharya (Jadavpur).
• Trinamool’s Bratya Basu (Dumdum).
• Firhad Hakim (Kolkata Port).
• Trinamool’s Sabyasachi Dutta (Barasat).
• BJP’s Rupa Ganguly (Sonarpur South).
• ISF candidate Naushad Siddiqui (Bhangar).

Overall, the voting pattern in Bengal in the first phase was shocking. However, there have been some incidents of violence after the first phase of voting, which may impact the results of the elections. Recently, an objectionable picture targeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was spread on social media, causing a lot of controversy at different places. Trinamool Congress has alleged that by such actions the BJP has insulted not only Mamata Banerjee but all the women of Bengal.

Police observer Ajay Pal Sharma accused of discrimination

Along with this, Police Observer Ajay Pal Sharma on Monday went to the house of Trinamool candidate in Diamond Harbor and spoke in a threatening tone, after which he came into limelight. Allegations have been made that this IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh is working at the behest of BJP. Diamond Harbor is the political stronghold of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Two clashes before voting also caught everyone’s attention

In this sequence, two clashes have also attracted everyone’s attention. On Sunday night, Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas district turned into a battlefield after clashes between TMC and BJP supporters. Right in front of the police station, both groups started throwing bricks at each other and bullets were also fired. During the incident, a bodyguard of BJP candidate Pawan Singh was shot. Pawan Singh is the son of BJP MP Arjun Singh. To bring the situation under control, central forces were deployed in the area the same night.

On Monday morning, new allegations of clash between Trinamool Congress and BJP came to light in Hooghly’s Goghat. TMC MP from Arambag Mithali Bagh was injured in the incident. Later the same day, while addressing a rally in Arambag, Abhishek Banerjee gave a stern warning that action would be taken against those who attacked Mithali after the election results were declared on May 4.