Assembly Elections 2026: Voting is to be held on 152 seats in the first phase on April 23 in West Bengal, for which all preparations have been completed. In this phase, about 3.6 crore voters will exercise their franchise at about 44,000 polling stations in 16 districts. This time elections are being held in only two phases, whereas voting was held in eight phases in 2021 and six phases in 2016.

Challenge to Mamata to save her stronghold in Bengal?

In the first phase, a direct contest is being considered between the ruling All India Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on about 80 seats, although a multi-cornered contest may also be seen at some places. The Election Commission has made tight security arrangements, under which more than 2,400 companies of central forces have been deployed and thousands of polling stations have been declared sensitive.

Will Stalin return?

Voting will be held in a single phase on all 234 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu, in which more than 5.73 crore voters will decide the fate of more than 4,000 candidates. The main contest here is between Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam i.e. DMK and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam i.e. AIADMK.

State Chief Minister MK Stalin is trying to retain his power, while AIADMK is trying to make a comeback under the leadership of Edappadi K. Palaniswami. To make the elections peaceful and smooth, security forces have been deployed on a large scale across the state and all necessary arrangements have been ensured.

political allegations and counter-allegations

Amidst the Bengal elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday held a road show in support of BJP candidate Roopa Ganguly in Sonarpur South assembly constituency and appealed to the people to remove CM Mamata Banerjee from power. Shah was seen greeting supporters riding on a saffron-coloured vehicle, while a large number of people stood on both sides of the road and raised slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.

He said that Mamata Banerjee, who came to power with the slogan of ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’, has left the state “to the hands of goons” and now her aim is to make her nephew Abhishek Banerjee the Chief Minister. Alleging “syndicate rule” and industrial backwardness, Shah said this situation will end once the BJP comes to power.

At the same time, on behalf of Trinamool Congress, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee hit back and accused Amit Shah of insulting Mamata Banerjee. He said that the way Shah addressed him as “Aye Didi” during the election campaign reflects the BJP’s thinking towards women. Abhishek Banerjee also said that the public will answer these comments after the election results are declared on May 4.

Also read: Before Bengal elections, Amit Shah’s call to remove CM Mamata, Abhishek Banerjee furious – this is an insult to a woman.

West Bengal Assembly Polls 2026: The noise of the first round of elections has subsided and now the first phase of voting is to be held on 23rd. Amidst the hustle and bustle of West Bengal Assembly elections 2026, the border district South Dinajpur is going through a different kind of restlessness. Here, behind the election noise, a silent crisis seems to be deepening, the closure of the old and traditional library. This educational infrastructure is gradually being destroyed and the local people are considering it not only as administrative negligence but also as playing with the future.

The road from Balurghat to Hili testifies to this crisis. Many government libraries standing on the roadside are now imprisoned behind closed doors and rusty locks. Where once students were engrossed in books, there is now silence. A local elder says, ‘This library remains closed throughout the year. Earlier we used to study by taking books from here. A young student says, ‘I didn’t even know this was a library.’

This is not the story of just one or two places. Most of the 57 libraries spread across the district are either closed or running in very poor condition. Local social worker Suraj Das says, ‘There was a fear of the library being closed for the last 10-15 years. Now the situation is such that there is a severe shortage of staff in about 90 percent of the libraries. At many places only temporary employees are handling the work.

Deep crisis related to education

The local educated class believes that this is not just the dilapidation of buildings but also the beginning of socio-cultural decline. These libraries were never just centers of books, they were places of dialogue, thought and society building. Now their extinction can affect the intellectual development of an entire generation. In a border district like South Dinajpur, where there is already a shortage of resources, the importance of the library increases, but in the current situation this basic structure itself seems to be dying.

Also read: Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026: Kharge’s very controversial statement on PM Modi, then clarified, BJP got angry and said- apologize.

The electoral field: a direct contest, many layers

Politically this district is witnessing a very interesting contest this time. The main fight is believed to be between Trinamool Congress and BJP, but Congress and Left parties are also trying to regain their lost base.

In the 2021 assembly elections, out of total 6 seats, 3 seats went to TMC and 3 seats to BJP. TMC had won Kushmandi, Kumarganj and Harirampur, while BJP had captured Balurghat, Tapan and Gangarampur. Even in the 2024 elections, both the parties were successful in saving their respective strongholds, but this time the equation seems to be changing.

BJP’s attack: ‘Completely failed government’

District BJP President Surjeet Choudhary accuses the government that the condition of health services is bad, the highway project is stuck due to land acquisition and the education system is continuously weakening. Trinamool has completely failed in South Dinajpur. The condition of the library itself tells what the priorities of the government are. BJP claims that it will perform better this time compared to 2021 and 2024 and will strengthen its hold in the district.

Also read: The noise of campaigning in the election state ‘Bengal-Tamil Nadu’ has stopped, now the fate of the candidates will be decided on April 23.

Trinamool’s answer: ‘Political agenda’

TMC accepts this issue, but opposes presenting it as an election weapon. Arpita Ghosh, candidate from Balurghat, believes that there is resentment among the people, but steps will be taken in future to remove it. He said, ‘Ever since BJP came second in Bengal, it is trying to change the traditions here. This is dangerous. Balurghat had its own identity, which is now changing.

Arpita Ghosh claims that there is dissatisfaction among the public regarding social issues like caste division and external interference, which can go against the BJP.

Ground truth: There is resentment, but the direction is unclear

Talking on the ground, it is clear that the resentment among the people is especially regarding education, employment and infrastructure, but it is not yet clear in which political direction this resentment will go. A college student says, ‘We need a library, we need jobs. Leaders come, make promises, but nothing changes. A local businessman says, ‘Investment is not coming here. The youth are going out. In the elections, we will vote only for the one who will do something concrete.

Big question of South Dinajpur

This time the elections in South Dinajpur are not just a fight for seats. This is becoming an election that decides the direction of development model, education system and social structure. There are a total of six assembly constituencies in South Dinajpur district of West Bengal and all of them fall in Balurghat Lok Sabha. These include Kushmandi (SC), Kumarganj, Balurghat, Tapan (ST), Gangarampur (SC) and Harirampur. All these assembly constituencies are considered important for the upcoming 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

(Report: Deepak Ghosh)

Also read: Exclusive: ‘TMC is corrupt, Bengal is not safe’, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan countered on Mamata’s allegations, told what will be the election issues of BJP