New Delhi: The fifth phase of the West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 is being held on Saturday across 45 constituencies spread over six districts.
The campaigning for the fifth phase ended at 6pm on Wednesday, as the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued trading blows over the recent killings of four men by central security personnel at Cooch Behar’s Sitalkuchi, where polls were held last Saturday.
In Phase 5 of the West Bengal assembly elections six districts — Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, and Purba Bardhaman — go into polls.
As many as 319 candidates, including 39 women, are in the fray in this phase of the West Bengal assembly elections. One-fourth of the total candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The fifth phase is crucial for TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, since these are the regions where the BJP gained a significant foothold in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This phase includes the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
The polling for phases 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the state elections took place on March 27, April 1, and April 6, and April 10, respectively.
