AMN / WEB DESK
Campaigning for upcoming assembly polls in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry are gaining momentum as all political parties are making intens effort to win over voters.
In Assam, the election campaign is going on for the First Phase of State Assembly Elections. The state will be see three-phase elections. During the First Phase, 47 Assembly Constituencies will go to polls on 27th of March while the Second Phase of polling will be conducted on 1st of April in 39 Assembly Constituencies.
The Third Phase polling will be held in 40 Assembly Constituencies on 6th of April. The total strength of the house is 126 out of which eight seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 16 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. Presently, there are nine vacancies in the house.
In the two-phase elections held in 2016, Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as a single largest party capturing 60 seats while ruling Indian National Congress could manage to get only 26 seats. Asom Gana Parishad bagged 14 seats, All India United Democratic Front won 13 and Bodoland Peoples’ Front got 12 seats while the remaining one went to an independent candidate.
In the 2011 Assembly Elections, Indian National Congress bagged 78 seats while All India United Democratic Front won 18 and Bodoland Peoples’ Front took 12 seats.
Besides, Asom Gana Parishad won 10 and Bharatiya Janata Party got five seats while the independent candidates claimed two and the remaining one went to All India Trinamool Congress.
In Kerala, nomination filing ends on Friday. Candidates of the three major political fronts began to visit the voters in their constituencies.
LDF had finished their regional election conventions and started booth-wise meetings. UDF and NDA are continuing their election convention meetings in various constituencies. Congress announced their candidates for 6 more seats yesterday and is yet to declare their candidate for Dharmadom, where the Chief Minister is contesting. BJP decided to field their senior leader Shobha Surendran in Kazhakkoottam.
As the election picture has become clear, national leaders, as well as state leaders, have begun thier campaigning tours.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will begin his statewide campaign from Wayanad today. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and BJP president K Surendran will inaugurate public meetings in various constituencies. AICC secretary Ivan D’Souza will visit Idukki today, as more National leaders are also expected to visit the state by next week.
In West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (March 16) laid a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and alleged that they are “conspiring to kill” her.
Addressing a poll rally at Bankura in West Bengal, Banerjee said that despite farmers protesting at the Delhi borders, all the BJP ministers are here in Bengal.
Banerjee also accused Union Home Minister and BJP senior leader Amit Shah of hatching a conspiracy to harass Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders. She further claimed that he is getting “frustrated” by “poor turnout” at his rallies