Bengal Round 1: It’s Cong-CPM face-off today

While the security across the state has been scaled up to an unprecedented level,helicopters roared over Maoist strongholds in West Midnapore for aerial surveillance. A makeshift helipad has also been set up in Lalgarh.

In Darjeeling,the BJP is certain of taking away the seat from the Congress with its party candidate Jaswant Singh expected to win by a huge margin with the backing of the influential Gorkha Janamukti Morcha. The first of the three phases of polls in the state for the total 42 seats,however,will not see any big contest for the Trinamool Congress,which has tied up with the Congress in the state,except for its marginal hopes for an upset win in Cooch Behar.

Of the 14 seats that will go for polls on Thursday,eight are in North Bengal while six are in south. Of the eight seats in North Bengal,three were won by the Congress in 2004 —Darjeeling,Raiganj and Malda. Malda,this time has been split into two Lok Sabha seats following delimitation. The remaining seats in North Bengal — Cooch Behar,Jalpaiguri,Alipurduar and Balurghat — were held by the Left Front (LF).

All the six seats in south Bengal that will go to polls on Thursday were also held by the LF.  Chances are that the Left will hold on to the seats this time too,though there might be a sharp fall in its vote share. These constituencies include hot spots like Lalgarh — still simmering with a tribal uprising — and other segments of Jhargram and Purulia Lok Sabha seats where Maoists have given a poll boycott call.

State Chief Electoral Officer Debasish Sen on Wednesday said the first phase is the “toughest phase” in Bengal. “There are disturbances in different parts of North Bengal. The Maoists concentrated areas of Jhargram and Purulia are also being covered in the first phase. We are trying to keep things under control but there is always tension.”

Latest reports say the siege in Lalgarh continues with the tribal leaders saying that police and paramilitary forces would not be allowed to enter 49 booths covering about 40,000 voters.

Apart from Cooch Behar,another seat where the contest promises to be close is Bankura where Congress heavyweight Subrata Mukherjee is pitted against CPM’s leader in LS,Basudeb Acharia. Mukherjee is said to have made deep inroads into Acharia’s territory.