TMC's Sougata Roy flays EC for eight-phased West Bengal Assembly polls

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sougata Roy has said the Election Commission has been unfair to West Bengal by scheduling the state's Assembly elections in eight-phases.

Speaking to , regarding the election dates announcement by the poll body, Roy said, "The Election Commission has been unfair to West Bengal. If elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala can be held in one day and Assam in three days then why elections should be held in West Bengal in eight phases?"

"This will cause immense problem to the people of the state. For one month all activity will come to standstill. Development work will stop. Really do not know why the election commission did all this but we strongly oppose it," he added.

The Election Commission of India on Friday announced that West Bengal will witness eight-phased Assembly polls beginning March 27. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said: "West Bengal will see eight-phase elections. 30 Assembly constituencies in five districts will go to polls in the first phase on March 27. 30 Assembly constituencies in four districts will go to polls in the second phase on April 1. In the third phase, 31 constituencies in 3 districts will go to polls on April 6. 44 constituencies in five districts will go for polling on April 10."

"In the fifth phase, 45 constituencies in six districts will witness polling on April 17. 43 constituencies in four districts in the sixth phase will go to polls on April 22. 36 constituencies in five districts in the seventh phase will go for polling on April 26. In the eighth and final phase, 35 constituencies in four districts will witness polling on April 29," he said.

The ECI has appointed two special police observers -- Vivek Dubey and MK Das -- for West Bengal.

With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the state.

"Model Code of Conduct to come into force immediately after the announcement of the election dates. The commission has made adequate arrangements to ensure effective implementation of MCC guidelines," Arora said.

Besides West Bengal, the ECI also announced the election schedule for Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry and Kerala.

West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and BJP in the fray.

While Mamata Banerjee is seeking her third consecutive term, BJP has set a target of winning 200 seats in the 294-member state Assembly. Congress and the Left have stitched the alliance for the polls and had already finalised the seat-sharing agreement. They are also in touch with the Indian Secular Front (ISF), recently floated by influential minority leader Abbas Siddique.

In 2016, West Bengal Assembly elections, out of the 294 seats, Congress had managed to win 44 seats while the Left Front bagged 33 seats. The ruling TMC secured 211 seats and the BJP had won 3 seats.

( With inputs from ANI )