Nation
Second phase Elections for 142 Assembly seats in West Bengal is underway. The second phase has over 1,448 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Polling began at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm. In the first phase of polling, held across 152 seats, the state witnessed a massive turnout of 92.72 per cent. A total of over 3.22 crore voters, including 1.64 crore male electors, 1.57 crore female electors are expected to participate High-profile constituencies in this phase include Bhabanipur, Panihati, Kolkata Port and Barrackpore. The EC has put in place extensive security arrangements, deploying 2,321 companies of central forces A total of 142 general observers, 95 police observers and 100 expenditure observers have been deployed. SIR voter list deletions are expected to affect the results, especially in seats where the margin of victory is low
