Test for Modi’s party, in the background the disputed revision of the electoral lists
Polls open in West Bengal, an Indian state with over 100 million inhabitants, where the second phase of local legislative elections is taking place today. In the first phase, on 23 April, voting was held to elect 152 deputies, today voting is underway for the remaining 142 representatives in some electoral districts, such as that of Kolkata, known as Calcutta until 2001.
Other legislative elections have been held in recent weeks in the Indian states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Puducherry Territory. Voting results in all five regions are expected on May 4.
The vote is considered an important electoral challenge between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition.
The elections are taking place against the backdrop of controversy between the government and the opposition over the “Special Intensive Revision” (Sir), a revision in which, according to some observers, millions of names were removed from the electoral lists. While the authorities claim that it serves to eliminate from the electoral lists those who do not have the right to vote, the opposition claims that the initiative penalizes minorities and more socially isolated groups.
According to AFP, the opposition Mamata Banerjee, head of the government of the Indian state of West Bengal, accused the Election Commission of “working on orders of the BJP party” to remove its supporters from the electoral lists. The government has rejected the accusations.
