Voting for the first phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal began on Thursday morning across 152 constituencies, covering 16 districts of the state, as the electoral exercise commenced at 7 am.
The Election Commission of India has adopted several stringent measures in holding free, fair and transparent polls in Bengal, which has a history of political violence, especially during elections. The poll body has deployed a record 2,450 companies of central forces, with more than 8,000 polling stations identified as highly sensitive. More than 44,000 polling booths have been set up across 152 constituencies.
In the aftermath of the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, over 3.60 crore voters, including nearly 1.75 crore women, will decide the fate of over 1,450 candidates.
After an intense campaign season, led by the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP in Bengal, electoral exercise commenced in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinjapur and Malda districts in North Bengal, and Murshidabad, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram districts in South Bengal.
Significantly, the Election Commission on Wednesday cleared 139 voters to participate in the first phase of the polls after judicial tribunals disposed of 657 cases arising from disputes linked to the SIR.
The voters, whose names have been newly included following tribunal orders, will be eligible to exercise their franchise in Thursday’s first phase of polling, in line with the Supreme Court’s direction permitting tribunal-cleared electors to vote up to two days before the scheduled date of polling.
BJP leader and the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Trinamool Supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district in the last Assembly elections, is facing Pabitra Kar of TMC this time.
Veteran Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a five-time Congress MP and former leader of the party in Lok Sabha, is contesting from the Baharampur Assembly constituency in Murshidabad to recapture his former stronghold.
Published on April 23, 2026