West Bengal Assembly elections 2021: 'Khela' from hills to plains in fifth phase

Kolkata, Apr 16: From hills to plains, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's turf plugs in for the next bout of 'Khela' of power as the fifth phase of state Assembly elections will be held on Saturday.

As many as 45 constituencies covering the districts of Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, and a segment of Nadia, North 24 Parganas, and Purba Bardhaman will go to polls in the fifth phase of West Bengal Assembly elections on April 17.

In the fifth phase, there is a clear division among political dynamics. Among the 45 constituencies, 13 are from North Bengal, which is believed to be a stronghold of BJP.

On the contrary, the ruling TMC finds it a relatively comfortable position in the south Bengal seats. Despite its losing footholds, the Left Front can also create some surprise in some of the seats in South Bengal.

A total of 319 candidates, including 39 women are in the fray in Phase-5.

Senior TMC leader and minister in the state government Bratya Basu is contesting from Dum Dum. CPI(M) has fielded Palash Das and BJP has fielded Bimal Shankar Nanda from the constituency.

It can be seen that TMC has fielded actor Chiranjeet Chakraborty from Barasat against BJP candidate Shankar Chatterjee and Forward Bloc candidate Sanjib Chattopadhyay.

In the Dabgram-Phulbari constituency there is a contest between TMC candidate Goutam Deb, BJP's Sikha Chatterjee and CPI(M)'s Dilip Singh. Deb is serving as the state tourism minister.

In the ongoing Assembly elections 2021, West Bengal is undergoing an eight-phase Assembly election this time. The first four phases were held on March 27, April 1, April 6, and April 10 respectively. The sixth phase of the state assembly polls is scheduled for April 22. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.