CAMPAIGNING for the fifth phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections to 45 seats ended on Wednesday. The campaigning ended at 6.30 pm, while polling is scheduled to be held on April 17. The Election Commission increased the silence period from 48 to 72 hours in view of the Cooch Behar killings in the fourth phase.

 

 

 

A total of 1.13 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes to decide the fate of 342 candidates, including Siliguri Mayor and Left Front leader Ashok Bhattacharya, State Minister Bratya Basu and BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6.30 pm at 15,789 polling stations in 16 assembly seats in North 24 Parganas, eight each in Purba Bardhaman and Nadia, seven in Jalpaiguri, five Darjeeling and one in Kalimpong district.