The seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections began at 7 am on Saturday in nine constituencies of West Bengal, amidst stringent security measures. An Election Commission of India (ECI) official confirmed the arrangements.
Voting is underway in Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, and Kolkata Uttar constituencies and will continue until 6 pm.
Approximately 1.63 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in this phase, comprising 83.19 lakh men, 80.20 lakh women, and 538 individuals of the third gender. Voting is taking place across 17,470 polling stations.
The constituencies of Kolkata Dakshin, Jadavpur, Basirhat, and Kolkata Uttar are particularly competitive, with 17, 16, 15, and 15 candidates contesting respectively. Dum Dum has 14 candidates, Barasat, Diamond Harbour, and Mathurapur each have 12, while Jaynagar has 11 candidates.
Several prominent figures are in the fray, including Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, incumbent MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Sougata Roy, and Mala Roy, former Union minister Debasree Chaudhuri of the BJP, and CPI(M) veteran Sujan Chakraborty.
The ECI has ensured robust security with the deployment of 967 companies of central forces and over 33,000 state police personnel. Kolkata alone will see 246 companies of central forces and 11,000 state policemen on duty. South 24 Parganas district will have 384 companies, while 116 companies will be stationed in Basirhat.
Additionally, the ECI has mobilised 1,958 Quick Response Teams (QRTs) to ensure smooth and secure polling in the final phase.
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