Susan Sadler POETRY
POETRY_183_REVIEW
== Political issues ==
=== COVID-19 ===
The pandemic became an election issue.The government was accused of "fudging" the count of positive cases and deaths in the region, and the AITC-led state government and BJP-led union government blamed each other for the surge in COVID-19 infections over the course of the campaign.The BJP accused Mamata Banerjee of not attending COVID-19 emergency management meetings held during the months of election campaigning, despite the second wave of infections, and for also holding election rallies.Sanjukta Morcha held the first Brigade rally ahead of polling in West Bengal.In mid-April, TMC requested holding the remaining phases of the elections in a single phase amid the rising number of COVID cases, but it was rejected by the Election Commission of India (ECI).=== Cyclone Amphan ===
In May 2020, a year before the 2021 elections, Cyclone Amphan hit the state.After it passed, widespread allegations of mismanagement and relief scam were reported.Protests broke out in some districts over the allegations, and the opposition made it an election issue ahead of the Assembly polls.=== Citizenship, immigration and refugee issues ===
In 2019, the BJP-led Union Government passed the CAA in Parliament, promising citizenship
to immigrants and refugees belonging to religious minorities in Bangladesh, and providing them with rehabilitation.The BJP's Bengali booklet released in January 2020 claimed that the National Register of Citizens was implemented to identify allegedly undocumented illegal Muslim immigrants, but religiously persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Parsi, and other religious minorities would be "shielded" by the CAA.=== Other issues
===
Polarisation amongst various religious, linguistic, and caste communities were also likely to play a role in this election.Both TMC and BJP had promised schemes for various
communities.Although previously mobilized by Left governments against elites under the
"class" narrative, the Dalits of West Bengal began to assert their identity politically.Religious polarization is particularly intense in districts bordering Bangladesh, such as North 24 Parganas.Arguments regarding who are native to the state and constituencies were also likely to impact the elections.Dissatisfaction and defection of many TMC leaders to BJP, allegedly due to rising influence of Abhishek Banerjee and Kishor in party administration was also likely to impact the elections.An event was organised by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in Kolkata's Victoria Memorial to commemorate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary, which was attended by PM Narendra Modi and CM Mamata Banerjee among others.A large number of BJP activists were present in the crowd.Just as Banerjee got up to speak, BJP supporters started chanting "Jai Shri Ram" which prompted the CM to abandon her speech.This incident led to a political slugfest between the BJP and the TMC ahead of the upcoming elections.Meanwhile, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh made controversial remarks about Netaji.Mamata claimed that the BJP had "insulted Netaji and Bengal" by their actions.The BJP leadership criticised Banerjee while the Left Front and the Congress backed her and condemned the BJP for the incident of Victoria Memorial.Not only political personalities but also non-political people from different levels of the society,
including Netaji's grandnephew Sugata Bose, condemned the incident of chanting religiopolitical slogans by BJP supporters which was unlikely for an apolitical event dedicated to Netaji.== Schedule ==
The election schedule was announced on 26 February 2021, and the election was held in eight phases from 27 March 2021 to 29 April 2021.Votes were counted on 2 May 2021.On the day of announcement, the ECI declared that physically disabled and elderly voters would get the benefit of postal voting and the time limit for voting was extended by one hour.Due to polling abnormalities, re-polling for booth number 88 in Jangipara was held in the fourth phase.The elections in Jangipur and Samserganj were adjourned due to the death of the INC candidate in Samserganj and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) candidate in Jangipur.Polling for these two seats was originally rescheduled to 13 May 2021, but as that day was Eid, it was pushed back to 16 May.Later on ECI adjourned polling for both
constituencies and it took place on 30 September.Repolling at the Amtali Madhyamik Siksha Kendra polling station in Sitalkuchi was conducted on 29 April, after CISF personnel were fired on 10 April.== Parties and alliances ==
=== All India Trinamool Congress + ===
Both factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) expressed support for TMC in the assembly election.TMC allotted three seats in the Darjeeling to GJM, but its two factions, namely Bimal and Binoy, declared fielding their candidates in each of the three seats.RJD, Shiv Sena, and JMM also endorsed Trinamool for the election.TMC supported Independent candidate in Joypur after their candidate's nomination was cancelled.=== Sanjukta Morcha
===
On 28 January 2021 Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury announced that seat-sharing talks between the Congress and Left Front had concluded for 193 seats and that the
remaining 101 seats would be decided at a later point.Out of the 193 seats agreed upon by 28 January 92 went to Congress and 101 to the Left Front.Left Front & Congress announced from a rally at the Brigade Parade ground on 28 February 2021 that they would form an alliance called Sanyukta Morcha with a newly-formed outfit called ISF.ISF initially claimed that they secured 30 seats from the Left Front's quota.After the final seat sharing agreement was concluded, it was announced that the Left Front would contest 165 seats, Congress 92 seats, and ISF 37 seats.Left Front chairman Biman Bose announced the candidates for the first and second-phase elections on 5 March alongside INC and ISF leaders, leaving seats for them in the list.
