A bevy of high-profile candidates, from ministers to actors, would test their luck in the hustings on Monday as seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the southern part of West Bengal go for polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
A total of 1,25,23,702 voters – 63,51,320 men, 61,72,034 women and 348 third-genders – are eligible to exercise their franchise in 13,481 polling stations across the seven constituencies.
The EC has identified over 57 per cent of the polling booths as sensitive and decided to deploy over 60,000 central forces besides 29,172 state police personnel for this phase, according to an official.
Reopening of closed industries, poor health of jute mills and demand for jobs are the main demands of the electorate in Howrah, Hooghly, Serampore and Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituencies, situated on both sides of the banks of River Hooghly.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is the bone of contention between the BJP and the TMC in Bangladesh-bordering Bangaon constituency, where winning the hearts of the Matua community, many of whom migrated from the neighbouring country, holds the key to ensuring a victory in the polls.
Uluberia and Arambagh are the other two constituencies in Bengal which are going to polls on Monday.
With the elections having come down to the high-strung constituencies in south Bengal in the fifth phase, the Election Commission has declared over 57 per cent booths as sensitive in Monday's polls, deploying the maximum number of security personnel among the first five phases to ensure peaceful polling.
BJP's Arjun Singh, who has been in and out of the saffron party and the Trinamool Congress on four occasions in the last five years, is taking on West Bengal minister Partha Bhowmick in Barrackpore in a bid to retain the seat he won in 2019.
Actor Rachana Banerjee has been fielded by the TMC to stop BJP's actor candidate Locket Chatterjee from winning for a straight second term from Hooghly.
In Serampore, BJP's Kabir Shankar Bose and CPI(M)'s student leader Dipsita Dhar are taking on TMC's sitting MP Kalyan Banerjee, who is contesting to win this seat for a fourth consecutive term.
Union Minister of State Shantanu Thakur of BJP is fighting to retain the Bangaon seat against TMC's Biswajit Das, who had switched to the Mamata Banerjee-led party after winning the 2021 assembly polls as a saffron party candidate from Bagdah, which is situated within this Lok Sabha constituency.
In Howrah, once known as the Sheffield of the East for its numerous factories, footballer-turned-politician Prasun Banerjee is seeking to retain the seat for a third time on a TMC ticket. He is being given a tough fight by BJP's Rathin Chakraborty, a former TMC leader and mayor of Howrah Municipal Corporation, apart from CPI(M)'s lawyer candidate Sabyasachi Chatterjee.
BJP's Arun Uday Pal Chaudhary is fighting to stop TMC's Sajda Ahmed from winning a third consecutive term in the Uluberia constituency.
In Arambagh, TMC has put up Mitali Bag, replacing its two-term MP Aparupa Poddar, to take on BJP's Arup Kanti Digar and CPI(M)'s Biplab Kanti Moitra.
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