Reiterating his party's claim that there will be a 'parivartan' in West Bengal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari said on Thursday that 'Sanatana' in the state will be annihilated if a change does not occur now. His remarks came as polling for phase one on 152 assembly constituencies take place in the state.
Speaking to news agency ANI, the incumbent Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly also took a dig at Mamata Banerjee over his remarks on the special intensive revision (SIR) drive and said the chief minister will never win if there are no "dead or fake" voters in the state.
"Parivartan hoga. If a change does not take place this time, Sanatana in Bengal will be finished," the BJP leader said before casting his vote. "The Election Commission is doing good work, but there are some goons everywhere. Our polling agent has been arrested. Strict action should be taken immediately."
Suvendu, who narrowly defeated Mamata in the 2021 assembly elections from the Nandigram constituency, is contesting from two seats this year. This includes Nandigram and Bhabanipur. While he is seeking a re-election from Nandigram, he is also contesting against Mamata from Bhabanipur, which is considered to be a bastion of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo.
It is worth noting that while polling is taking place in Nandigram in the first phase, Bhabanipur will vote in the second phase on April 29. The counting of votes, meanwhile, will take place on May 4.
The phase one polling in West Bengal
Talking about the phase one of West Bengal elections, the polling is taking place on 152 assembly constituencies in districts such as Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum and Hooghly. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has placed Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur, Cooch Behar, Birbhum and Purba Bardhaman districts under special surveillance.
The poll body has also deployed over 2,193 quick response teams (QRTs) to ensure that the polling is held peacefully.
This phase is considered crucial for the BJP, as it had won 59 of the 152 seats here in 2021. The party is looking to retain its dominance in north Bengal as this region remains crucial for the saffron party to oust the TMC from power.
