Bengal Assembly Elections LIVE Updates: Voting Begins In Bengal For Fifth And Biggest Phase Of Assembly Polls

Bengal Assembly elections 2021: Bengal has already voted for 135 seats and after today fifth phase of voting, results for more than half of its 294 seats will be sealed.

West Bengal is voting today in the fifth phase of the assembly elections held amid an alarming surge of coronavirus cases across the country. 45 seats are going to polls in the biggest of the state's eight-phased elections. Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Darjeeling and a part of Nadia, North 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman will vote today in which a total of 319 candidates, including 39 women are contesting. Bengal has already voted for 135 seats and after today's voting, results for more than half of its 294 seats will be sealed. High-profile contestants include the Trinamool's Bratya Basu, Gautam Deb and Siddiqullah Chowdhury, and the BJP's Jagannath Sarkar - one of five MPs nominated by the party. The BJP is contesting all 45 seats. The ruling Trinamool will contest 42 with three given to allies Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM). The Congress will contest only 11, with alliance partner CPM contesting 25 and the rest given to smaller parties.