Polling in 38 constituencies in WB on Saturday in fifth phase

Kolkata, May 6 (PTI) An electorate of over 74.17 lakh will
vote in the fifth phase of the Assembly elections in 38 seats
in four Maoist-hit districts of West Midnapur, Bankura,
Purulia and parts of Burdwan in the east Indian state of West
Bengal on Saturday.
In all 193 candidates, including health minister and
Communist party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) stalwart Suryakanta
Mishra and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC)
president Manas Bhunia, are in the fray.
The rulling Left Front's stake is high in these seats
because when it suffered a rout in south Bengal in the 2009
Lok Sabha polls at the hands of the Trinamool Congress, the
four districts, known as the red fort, rebuffed the winds of
change blowing across Bengal.
Saturday's election in these districts will be a test for
the Front's ability to block the threatened inroads by the
Trinamool Congress.
Of the 38 seats, 12 are in West Midnapur, five in Purulia,
nine in Bankura and 12 in Burdwan district.
The Left Front is contesting all the 38 seats while
Trinamool Congress has fielded candidates in 33 and alliance
partner Congress in five. The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has
fielded candidates in all the seats.
Tight security arrangements have been made for peaceful
polling with deployment of around 600 companies of central
paramilitary forces besides state forces, election office
sources here said.
Altogether 9,425 polling stations have been set-up. The
Maoist problem figured prominently in the election campaign by
both the LF and TC-Congress combine in the fifth phase.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee while campaigning
at Jhargram in West Midnapur district where Lalgarh is
situated, alleged that if Trinamool Congress wins, Maoists
would raise their heads again. Voting for the Trinamool
Congress meant meant voting for the Maoists.
Trinamool chief and Indian Railway Minister Mamata
Banerjee, on the other hand, alleged that the Maoist problem
was created by the CPI(M).
Banerjee also played the development card promising
industry, educational institutes and hospitals.
Senior Congress leader and Union Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee urged Maoists to shun violence and sit for talks to
settle their demands.
The high voltage campaign also witnessed Union Home
Minister P Chidambaram canvassing for the alliance at Keshpur
and Garbeta in West Midnapur district, during which he flayed
the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government for its alleged shoddy
record on the law and order front.