Polling for the 144-seat Kolkata Municipal Corporation is underway amid tight security arrangements.
The election would be test of the Trinamool Congress’ popularity among the urban electorate, while the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Left can see whether their efforts to woo back voters are paying off.
For the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has aspired to become a major force in the state after the Lok Sabha election, the civic poll would be a test of its popularity graph while the Congress, which has witnessed desertion in its rank, is trying hard to retain some pockets.
In all, 1077 candidates will try their luck in the election in which 38 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to elect a new KMC board. At present, the municipal corporation is ruled by TMC which had 95 seats.
The polling will be manned mainly by the Kolkata police and three companies of central forces which have been brought from Darjeeling, according to the State Election Commissioner S R Upadhyay.
Image: People line up at polling booths in West Bengal to exercise their franchise in the KMC elections. Photograph: ANI/Twitter
