Seven Lok Sabha seats in Bengal will go for election on Monday 20 May, which is the fifth phase of the seven-phase general election.

In the first four phases, elections were held for 18 seats.

In the fifth phase Bongaon, Barrackpore, Hooghly, Srirampur, Arambagh, Uluberia and Howrah will go to polls.

Of these seats, four seats, namely, Srirampur, Arambagh, Uluberia and Howrah are under the control of Trinamul Congress while the saffron party has the control over three seats, namely, Bongaon, Barrackpore and Hooghly.

In Bongaon, Shantanu Thakur, the incumbent BJP MP will fight against Biswajit Das of Trinamul Congress. The Matuas, who have a sizable population here, have played a major role in electing their candidate and the Matuas this time are not happy with the BJP. In 2019, both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have said that the Matuas would be given CAA certificates without any problem. But now, it seems that the process is very complicated. Mamata Banerjee has claimed that the CAA certificate, which has been given to some people, is an eyewash and an election propaganda. Both Miss Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have held meetings and roadshows in Bongaon in support of Biswajit Das, Trinamul candidate, who is the MLA from Bagda. Mr Das joined Trinamul from BJP in 2022.

In the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat, state irrigation and waterways minister Partha Bhowmick has been pitted against Arjun Singh of BJP. Mr Singh, who first became an MLA from Bhatpara on Trinamul ticket was elected in Lok Sabha. He later joined the BJP and later came back to Trinamul again. On failing to get a berth in the Lok Sabha this time, he joined the BJP and is the party’s nominee in the ensuing general election.

The people of Barrackpore do not appreciate Mr Singh’s frequent changing of sides and a tough fight is likely in Barrackpore.

In Hooghly, two actors are pitted against each other this time. Rachana Banerjee of Trinamul Congress is fighting against Locket Chatterjee of BJP. Mrs Chatterjee defeated Dr Ratna Dey Nag of Trinamul Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. There is massive infighting in the BJP and Mrs Chatterjee’s staying away from her constituency, particularly during the pandemic has not gone down well with the electorate. As Rachana Banerjee is Trinamul Congress chairman’s choice, she left no stone unturned to ensure her victory. She held meetings and roadshows. Abhishek Banerjee also held roadshows and addressed meetings urging people to vote for Rachana Banerjee.

The four remaining seats, namely, Serampore, Arambagh, Uluberia and Howrah are with the Trinamul Congress.

In Serampore, Trinamul nominee is the sitting MP Kalyan Banerjee. In Arambagh, Trinamul replaced the sitting MP Aparupa Podder with Mrs Mitali Nag.

In Uluberia, Trinamul’s nominee is Sajda Ahmed, the sitting MP while in Howrah Trinamul’s nominee is footballer Prasun Banerjee. Mr Banerjee is facing Dr Rathin Chakraborty of BJP. Dr Chakraborty joined the saffron brigade from Trinamul Congress. He was the mayor of Howrah Municipal Corporation during the Trinamul dominated board.

Trinamul’s main aim is to retain the existing seats and win two out of three seats that are under the BJP while the BJP is confident of retaining its three seats.

The polling will start at 7am and will continue till 5pm.