West Bengal gears up for first phase of a high-stakes, tightly-policed Assembly election

April 22, 2026 7:31 PM

West Bengal gears up for first phase of a high-stakes, tightly-policed Assembly election

West Bengal goes to the polls on Thursday, in the first of the two-phase high-stakes, tightly-policed Assembly election, where about 3.6 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in roughly 44,000 polling booths across 152 constituencies in 16 districts. Though there has been a significant reduction in phases compared to earlier elections, the state is witnessing an unprecedented deployment of central security agencies with new and unique Election Commission measures aimed at the st...

LS elections: Poor mango yield, soil erosion, CAA top poll talk as Malda gears up to vote in Phase 3

May 4, 2024 3:48 PM

LS elections: Poor mango yield, soil erosion, CAA top poll talk as Malda gears up to vote in Phase 3

As Malda and the neighboring Murshidabad district gear up for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7, issues like poor mango yield, soil erosion, and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are taking center stage in the poll discourse. Four parliamentary constituencies in Bengal – Jangipur, Malda Uttar, Malda Dakshin, and Murshidabad – will go to polls in this phase. River erosion, inadequate healthcare infrastructure and perennial drinking water problems are the key electoral an...