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West Bengal

Number of phases don't matter, BJP will be shown door anyway, says TMC

The party questioned the commission's "duality" on conducting eight-phase elections in 2021 during a period of high Covid infections while settling for two-phase polls this time

Unwilling to grant too much importance to the dual-phase polls announced for West Bengal by the Election Commission, the Trinamool Congress on Sunday alleged that the poll body fixed the number of phases based on "requirements of its political masters". The party questioned the commission's "duality" on conducting eight-phase elections in 2021 during a period of high Covid infections while settling for two-phase polls this time around. "The number of phases is solely a reflection of what the BJP wants and the Election Commission has only adhered to the requirement of its political masters," TMC spokesperson, Arup Chakraborty said. The Election Commission on Sunday announced that Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29. "Else, how can one justify conducting eight-phase polls in the state in 2021 when people were dying of Covid infections and deciding to hold the polls in two phases now when there is no such bug. The number of polls doesn't matter, people will demolish the BJP irrespective of that," Chakraborty added. The party posted a cryptic text on its X handle, suggesting two phases are enough to corner the BJP in the state. "How many phases will it take for the people of Bengal to decisively reject Bangla-Birodhi @BJP4India once and for all? Answer: Jotoi Koro Hamla, #AbarJitbeBangla #BoycottBJP," TMC wrote. Party leader Kunal Ghosh maintained that people of Bengal continued to stand firmly behind the TMC. "If the turnout at the Yuba Sathi camps is any indicator of where the support of the state's youths lie, then it won't matter how many phases the state will vote in. We already have the required backing of the people," he said.