Campaigning for eight Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal going to polls in the fourth phase on May 13 came to an end on Saturday, an official said.
Polling will take place in Baharampur, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat (SC), Bardhaman Purba (SC), Bardhaman-Durgapur, Asansol, Bolpur (SC) and Birbhum in the fourth round of the Lok Sabha polls.
A total of 1,45,30,017 voters, including 71,45,379 women and 282 third-gender electors, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 15,507 polling stations, he said.
Out of the 75 candidates contesting in the fourth phase, Baharampur has the highest number of 15 nominees, followed by Birbhum (12), Krishnanagar (11), eight each in Bolpur (SC) and Bardhaman–Durgapur constituencies, he said.
There are seven candidates each in the constituencies of Bardhaman Purba (SC), Ranaghat (SC) and Asansol, the official said.
Heavyweight politicians, including Congress West Bengal president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Baharampur), BJP's former state chief Dilip Ghosh (Burdwan-Durgapur), former cricketer Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur) and actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha (Asansol), are in the fray in this phase.
The BJP has fielded ‘Rajmata’ Amrita Roy from the Krishnanagar seat against TMC’s Mahua Moitra. The TMC has nominated former India cricketer Kirti Azad from Burdwan-Durgapur and renominated Satabdi Roy in Birbhum.
The Election Commission has identified 3,647 polling stations as “critical”, the official said.
A total of 152 companies of central forces would be deployed in Bardhaman Purba district, followed by Birbhum (131), Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate (88), Krishnanagar Police District (81), Murshidabad Police District (73) and Ranaghat Police District (54), he said.
Star campaigners like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, and her nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, took part in rallies and roadshows in support of their party candidates.
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