Phase I of West Bengal Assembly polls on March 27 | All you need to know

The 30 constituencies had overwhelmingly voted for TMC in last two state elections but BJP had swept them in 2019 Lok Sabha elections

In a bid to reach out to the tribals and the Kurmi community in the poll-bound districts in West Bengal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said during a campaign rally, "Time has come to bid goodbye to the misrule of the TMC and Mamata Banerjee."

As the state readies for the eight-phased elections to the 294-member Assembly seats which will be held from March 27 to April 29, here is a rundown on constituencies that are holding polls in the first phase and the major candidates in the fray:

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In the first phase, the election is scheduled to be held in 30 assembly constituencies of four tribal-dominated districts -- Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Purba Medinipur (Part 1) and Paschim Medinipur (Part 1) -- that were once considered the citadel of the Left in the state. Here is a list of the constituencies:

Patashpur	Jhargram	Joypur
Kanthi Uttar	Keshiary	Purulia
Bhagabanpur	Kharagpur	Manbazar
Khejuri	Garbeta	Kashipur
Kanthi Dakshin	Salboni	Para
Ramnagar	Medinipur	Raghunathpur
Egra	Binpur	Saltora
Dantan	Bandwan	Chhatna
Nayagram	Balarampur	Ranibandh
Gopiballavpur	Baghmundi	Raipur

Number of polling booths

The first phase election will be held in 10,288 polling booths in the 30 Assembly constituencies spread over five districts. According to the Election Commission, the number of booths will be the highest in Purulia (3,127), followed by Purba Medinipur (2,437), Paschim Medinipur (2,089) and Bankura (1,328).

The second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections has been scheduled for April 1 and will cover 30 constituencies, followed by the third phase on April 6 for 31 seats, fourth on April 10 for 44 constituencies, fifth on April 17 for 45 seats, sixth for 43 seats on April 22, seventh phase on April 26 for 36 seats and the last and eighth phase on April 29 for 35 seats. The counting of votes will be taken up on May 2.

Who has a stronghold?

The 30 constituencies had overwhelmingly voted for TMC in the last two state elections but BJP had swept them in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The TMC had won most of the Assembly seats in the Jangalmahal region in the 2016 elections but the BJP emerged victorious in all the five Lok Sabha seats in the region, spread over Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia districts, in the 2019 polls.

Key candidates

According to an analysis by India TV, here are the key face-offs that West Bengal will see on March 27, 2021:

Purulia: Sujoy Banerjee (TMC) vs Sudip Mukherjee (BJP) vs Partha Prathim Banerjee (Congress)

Medinipur: June Malia (TMC) vs Shamit Dash (BJP) vs Tarun Kumar Ghosh (CPI(M))

Kharagpur: Dinen Ray (TMC) vs Tapan Bhuiya (BJP) vs Sk. Saddam Ali (CPI(M))

Kanthi Uttar: Tarun Kumar Jana (TMC) vs Sunita Singha (BJP) vs Sutanu Maity (CPI(M))

Kanthi Dakshin: Jyotirmoy Kar (TMC) vs Arup Kumar Das (BJP) vs Anulup Panda (CPI(M))

Baghmundi: Sushanta Mahato (TMC) vs Ashutosh Mahato (AJSU) vs Nepal Mahata (Congress)

(With PTI inputs)