With
just few days left for the phase one of the eight-phased West Bengal assembly
elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) are using
their star campaigners to woo the voters. Even with a plastered foot, state
chief minister Mamata Banerjee has left no stone unturned to target the BJP.

Phase
1 of the elections will be held on March 27 and voters in 30 constituencies
will decide the fate of candidates.

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Ruling
party TMC is eyeing a third term whereas BJP is trying to build on its 2019 Lok
Sabha performance, where it won 18 seats, only four less than TMC. The saffron
party has emerged as the main Opposition party in the state.

In 2006, TMC
contested the polls with the BJP and in 2011, it formed a coalition with the Congress,
but things have changed now. Mamata-led TMC will face both grand-old parties for
294 seats. The counting of the votes is scheduled for May 2.

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Voters
and polling booths

About
73,294,980 electors will exercise their franchise across 101,916 polling
booths. According to reports, 101,916 polling booths will be set up in the state,
compared to 77,413 in 2016. The number of voters in each polling station has
been restricted to 1,000 from 1,500.

In 2016, the election
was held in seven phases (one phase divided in two parts) and the whole process
completed in 77 days. The Election Commission has sent 125 companies of paramilitary
forces to the state.

Also read: How ‘Khela Hobe’ became central to Trinamool Congress’ game in West Bengal polls

Polling
dates:

Phase 1 polling
for 30 seats: March 27

Phase 2 polling
for 30 seats: April 1

Phase 3 polling
for 31 seats: April 6

Phase 4 polling
for 44 seats: April 10

Phase 5 polling
for 45 seats: April 17

Phase 6 polling
for 43 seats: April 22

Phase 7 polling
for 36 seats: April 26

Phase 8 Polling
for 35 seats: April 29

Seat distribution

The
West Bengal Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) has a total number of 294
seats, of which, 68 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 16 seats
are 1reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

2016 results

In 2016, TMC won
the state assembly polls by winning 211 seats, whereas Congress won 44 seats.
BJP emerged winner on only three seats. CPM had 26 seats, CPI (1), AIFB (2),
GJM (3), RSP (3) and Independent (1).