The voting started at 7 am in 77 constituencies of West Bengal and Assam for the first round of eight-phase elections in five states. Voters were seen trooping to polling booths at various centres to decide the fate of 455 candidates in the fray. While Bengal will vote in eight phases, Assam will do so in three rounds. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will vote in a single phase on April 6. The votes will be counted on May 2.

Here’s all you need to know about the two states going to polls today:

WEST BENGAL

Polling dates: March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26, April 29

Assembly strength: 294

Ruling party: Trinamool Congress

Sitting party position: Trinamool Congress (211), BJP (3), CPM (26), Congress (44), Others (10)

ASSAM

Polling dates: March 27, April 1, April 6

Assembly strength: 126

Ruling party: BJP-AGP

Sitting party position: BJP (60), AGP (14), Congress (26), AIUDF (13), Others (13)

West Bengal is perhaps the most keenly-watched of all the states with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee facing and aggressive Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and an anti-incumbency of 10 years. Marked by defections, high-decibel campaign and allegations of attacks, the campaign in the state was highly vitriolic, to say the least.

In the 2016 assembly elections, the ruling Trinamool had won 27 of the 30 seats going to polls in phase 1. The Congress had won two seats and RSP, a constituent of the Left Front, one seat. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had swept this region.

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In 2011, Mamata Banerjee had surprised poll analysts by trouncing Left Front, the ruling party of 34 years. Her winning streak continued in the 2016 Assembly elections too. Going by the 2019 Lok Sabha elections voting pattern, Trinamool may have a tough time defending this bastion.

Keen contests are likely to be witnessed in Purulia, where sitting Congress MLA Sudip Mukherjee recently joined the BJP and is contesting on the saffron party’s ticket. Another key contest is likely in the Kharagpur assembly seat, which falls under the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency represented by Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh. The BJP has fielded Tapan Bhuya for this prestige battle while the Trinamool has relied on sitting MLA Dinen Roy again.

ASSAM

In Assam, the ruling BJP is looking to retain power in the three-phase assembly elections. While analysts feel that the BJP-AGP combine is comfortably placed in the elections, the Congress’s alliance with Badruddin Ajmal’s AIDUF may upset calculations in some seats.

In phase 1 elections, 47 of the 126 will vote on March 27. Of these, 37 MLAs are re-contesting, including 24 of the BJP, 6 each from the Congress and AGP, and one from AIUDF. Forty-two of these seats fall in 11 districts of Upper Assam and North Assam, and five from Central Assam’s Nagaon district. In 2016, the BJP had bagged 27 seats and its ally AGP 8 seats. The Congress had won just 9 seats.

This time, the AIUDF is contesting 19 seats as a part of the alliance with Congress. In the 2016 assembly election, the division of voters between Congress and Ajmal’s party had led to the BJP winning over 20 seats.

In the BJP, murmurs have already started over who will the chief minister if the party comes to power on May 2. Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had joined the BJP from the Congress before the 2016 Assembly election and was widely credited with the party’s win in the state, is seen as a strong contender. Both Sarma and current CM Sarbanda Sonowal are in the fray this time too.

The party has, however, kept the issue open with Assam BJP in-charge and the party’s vice president Baijayant Jay Panda telling ANI, “Our top leaders will contest the polls. Both Sonowal and Sarma are very popular and have a good image among the public. They will definitely contest the polls. There is no problem in the state under the leadership of CM Sonowal and Minister Sarma.”

Also read: Activists Akhil Gogoi, Pranab Doley to contest Assam polls with few thousand rupees in pockets

Among the key seats in Phase 1 are Majuli from where chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal is contesting; Gohpur from where Assam Congress president Ripun Bora is contesting; and Sibsagar from where jailed peasants’ rights activist and president of newly formed Raijor Dal Akhil Gogoi is contesting.