Tamil Nadu, West Bengal set to vote as campaign for assembly polls winds up

HIgh-decibel campaigns for the Tamil Nadu gathering polls and 152 seats in w Bengal ended on tues, with the subject popular Alliance (NDA) making a strong push to breach the Opposition’s bastions in the southern and eastern parts of India.Voting for the second phase of 142 seats in West Bengal will take place on April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4, along with that of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. Sporadic clashes broke out in Bengal.In the past week, campaigning in the two states had centered around the Constitution Amendment Bill, which had aimed to expand the Lok Sabha to implement 33% reservation for women but failed to garner the required two-thirds majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Opposition – especially the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) – of conspiring against women. The Opposition alleged that the BJP was trying to enforce a delimitation of assembly and Lok Sabha seats under the garb of women reservation. In Tamil Nadu, chief minister MK Stalin, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TVK chief Vijay crisscrossed the 234 seats.Modi slammed the DMK and the Congress for “derailing the women’s reservation bill”.“A noble effort got derailed due to the DMK and Congress,” he said, and sought to know why it “troubled” the DMK and Congress to see “ordinary women rise”.Also read: Muted saffron shades, visibility sparse: TMC leads over BJP on one front in battle Bengal | Ground report Palaniswami, who heads the NDA in the state, asked the people to oust the “corrupt DMK regime” and end “family rule” in the state. The AIADMK targeted the DMK on dynasty, deterioration of law and order, a heavy debt burden, alleged prevalence of drugs and the lack of safety of women and children.Contesting from Kolathur in Chennai, Stalin repeatedly accused the Centre of not allocating funds to the state, non-allocation of metro rail projects to Madurai and Coimbatore, and trying to impose Hindi under the garb of the National Education Policy.Stalin had threatened a state-wise agitation on the constitution amendment bill on expanding the Lok Sabha. He accused Modi of trying to use the bill as a “weapon” against the Opposition.“During the past five years, people placed trust in me as the chief minister, and I rose to the occasion by dispensing welfare assistance and even defending the state’s interests,” Stalin said.Also read: Bengal assembly polls: The Congress hopes to regain lost ground in 4 districts“During the assembly election in 2021, people said ‘Stalin is more dangerous than Kalaignar’. I can never be compared with him. I addressed him as the leader more often than I called him father. One thing comes to my mind when they say so. I will always be a danger to those who want to deceive Tamil Nadu and hinder its growth,” he added in a video message.During the campaign, Narendra Modi and Shah targeted the DMK and alleged it was concerned only about family rule rather than public welfare, and that law and order was deteriorating under the DMK. Tamil Nadu has 57,343,291 voters comprising 28,030,658 men and 29,304,905 constitute women.In Bengal, the campaign revolved around the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, corruption, and the food choices of West Bengal’s voters with the fish-eating habit of Bengalis moving from humble household plates to politics.Reports of violence – including on the final campaign day for the first phase – marred the runup to Thursday’s polls. “Some incidents have happened. Action is being taken,” Manoj Agrawal, the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO), told the media. Reports of political violence poured in from Durgapur in West Burdwan, Dantan in West Midnapore and Canning in South 24 Parganas. While Durgapur and Dantan go to polls on Thursday, polls in Canning will be held in the second phase on April 29.There was no report of any death or critical injury.Voting in 152 constituencies across north Bengal, mostly BJP strongholds, and several districts in the southern part of the state, where the TMC is considered to be on better footing, is scheduled for Thursday. Around 36 million electors are eligible in this phase.At least 2,450 companies of central paramilitary forces comprising nearly 250,000 personnel have been deployed by the Election Commission (EC) for the two-phased election in Bengal.On the last day, home minister Amit Shah, sounded a warning for the ruling party in his first rally in Darjeeling’s hill region.“The EC has sent CAPF (Central armed police forces) this year. No violence will be tolerated. Nobody can touch BJP workers,” Shah said in Kurseong. Shah also promised that names of Gorkhas allegedly deleted during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls would be restored if the BJP formed a government in Bengal.Also read: Why Dhaka is watching Bengal elections closelyAt West Burdwan district’s Kulti, a mining belt, Shah promised that all leaders accused of corruption will be behind bars after May 5. “Mamata is only concerned about bhaipo (nephew). After the polls she will put bhaipo in her seat but her dreams will never come true,” Shah said, without naming TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.In Jhargram district’s Lalgarh, Abhishek said, “People are watching how a prime minister, a home minister, a host of central ministers, chief ministers for a dozen states, the EC and the CAPF are all here to stop just one woman. She faces them alone,” he said.At all rallies she addressed on Tuesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that Bengalis will no longer be allowed to have fish and meat if the BJP came to power. BJP central leader Anurag Thakur countered Banerjee in Kolkata by eating fish curry and rice with BJP workers.In Tamil Nadu, 4,023 candidates representing various political parties are contesting the 234 assembly seats. The DMK is spearheading a Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) and the AIADMK is leading the NDA. The DMK is contesting 164 seats with 70 seats left for allies including the Congress. The AIADMK is competing in 169 seats, and the remaining 65 are shared with allies including the BJP, which is contesting on 27 seats. The election also marks the entrance of actor-politician C Joseph Vijay, whose party is contesting all 234 seats.