In January 2021, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had announced its plans to contest the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls.
Shiv Sena is currently a part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition with Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray, Bal Thackeray’s son, is party leader and serves as the current chief minister of the state.
Although the party’s primary base is still in Maharashtra, it has tried to expand to a pan-Indian base.
On February 26, the Election Commission of India announced that West Bengal will witness eight-phased Assembly polls beginning March 27.
The Election Commission of India on Friday announced that West Bengal will witness eight-phased Assembly polls beginning March 27.
West Bengal Election 2021 will take part in 8 phases.
Phase 1: March 27, 2021
Phase 2: April 1, 2021
Phase 3: April 6, 2021
Phase 4: April 10, 2021
Phase 5: April 17, 2021
Phase 6: April 22, 2021
Phase 7: April 26, 2021
Phase 8: April 29, 2021
The tenure of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will end on May 30 this year.
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.
The BJP made deep inroads in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats and decimating TMC’s tally to 22. Out of the total 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, Congress won two seats, the Left drew a blank.
After BJP’s performance in the 2019 polls, several TMC leaders have joined the party led by JP Nadda.
(With inputs from ANI)
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