Kolkata, March 30: The second phase of voting for the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 is scheduled to take place on April 1. The polling will be held in 30 constituencies of the state. There are a total of 171 candidates in the fray for the second phase of polling. In these elections, the main contest will be between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which in the last two years has expanded its roots in the state. West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021: Mamata Banerjee Slams BJP for Replicating CPI-M’s Tactics.

In this phase of voting, all eyes will be on a high pitched- contest between West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram assembly constituency. Notably, Adhikari joined the BJP in December last year. Apart from Nandigram, Kharagpur Sadar and Moyna constituencies are also considered as key constituencies. West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 Dates: Polling in 8 Phases Between March 27 and April 29, Results on May 2; Check Full Schedule Here.

Here Are Key Electoral Battles in Second Phase of West Bengal Assembly Elections:

Mamata Banerjee Vs Suvendu Adhikari: TMC Turncoat Adhikari will take on the TMC chief and State CM from the Nandigram assembly constituency. Once, the close aide of Banerjee, Adhikari has claimed that he would defeat the CM with a margin of at least 50,000 votes in the polls. In 2016 Vidhan Sabha elections, Adhikari won the elections from the Nadigram constituency.

Soham Chakroborty Vs Pulak Kanti Guriya: Bengali actor Soham Chakraborty will take on BJP candidate Pulak Kanti Guriya from the Chandipur constituency. Chakraborty contested in the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election from Barjora (Vidhan Sabha constituency). Chakraborty was defeated by Sujit Chakraborty of CPI-M.

Arup Dhara Vs Shibram Das: Another TMC turncoat and Adhikari’s loyalist Shibram Das is contesting the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 from Chandrakona (SC) constituency. Das will take on TMC candidate Arup Dhara.

 Ajit Maity Vs Antara Bhattacharya: Former CPI(M) Zilla Parishad chairperson Antara Bhattacharya is contesting the upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls from the Pingla constituency on the BJP ticket. She is contesting against TMC candidate Ajit Maity.

Sangram Kumar Vs Ashok Dinda vs Manik Bhowmick: Former Indian cricketer Ashok Dinda is fighting on BJP’s ticket from the Moyna assembly constituency. Meanwhile, the TMC has fielded Sangram Dolui from the Vidhan Sabha seat. The constituency s likely to witness a triangular contest as the Congress has given a ticket to Manik Bhowmick.

 Pradip Sarkar Vs Hiranmoy Chattopadhyaya: The BJP has fielded Bengali actor Hiranmoy Chattopadhyay from the Kharagpur Sadar assembly seat. Notably, in 2016, the seat was won by the state BJP president Dilip Ghosh. He is not contesting the upcoming elections. The TMC has given a ticket to sitting MLA Pradeep Sarkar. He was elected as a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Kharagpur Sadar in 2019 bypolls.

Humayun Kabir Vs Bharati Ghosh: Two former IPS officers are contesting from the Debra Assembly Constituency of West Medinipur district. Bharati Ghosh,19 94 batch IPS officer, is contesting on a BJP ticket. Meanwhile, TMC has fielded Humayun Kabir, 2003 batch officer, from the Vidhan Sabha seat. He joined the TMC recently.

The West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 are taking place in eight phases starting from March 27 to April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2, and by the evening, results will be declared. Mamata Banerjee is seeking the third consecutive term as the CM of the state. Apart from West Bengal, the assembly polls are also taking place in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the union territory of Puducherry.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2021 05:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).