Fourth phase West Bengal Lok Sabha poll underway in 6 seats

Amidst tight security, voting was underway today in six Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal, four of which are located in the former Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal.
The six seats are Bankura, Jhargram (ST), Purulia, Medinipur, Bishnupur (SC) and Asansol.
Adequate central forces were deployed in all the polling stations of the region and Standard Operating Procedure of the Ministry of Home Affairs was being followed strictly for the entire fourth phase giving special priority to the LWE (Left Wing Extremist) areas.
Area domination, route march and flag marches have been undertaken in the entire region.
A security net has been thrown around the areas going to polls with special deployment of Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and anti-landmine vehicles.

Three helicopters, two from the IAF and the rest from CRPF, have already been deployed for air-surveillance over three LWE-affected districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.

The Left Front is under pressure to retain the six seats it had won in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, though with a reduced margin.
Of the six, the CPI(M) had won four and Forward Bloc and CPI shared one seat each in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
One of the most watched constituencies in this phase is Bankura where Basudeb Acharia is pitted against former actress Moonmoon Sen of Trinamool Congress.
The BJP is likely to be a crucial factor in at least two seats - Asansol and Bankura, and has generated a lot of interest among the electorate.

Polling time has been reduced by two hours in the assembly segments of Jhargram, Binpur and Bandwan under Jhargram Parliamentary constituency, and Balarampur, Baghmundi and Jaypur under Purulia Parliamentary constituency.