West Bengal votes in fourth phase of assembly polls: All you need to know

• Polling began at 7 am for 44 seats in the fourth phase of West Bengal assembly polls. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations across five districts. Voting, which will continue till 6:30 pm, is underway with adherence to Covid protocols. Elections are being held in Howrah, South 24 Parganas, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Hooghly. Over 1.15 crore voters will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 373 candidates. High-profile candidates include Babul Supriyo, Partha Chatterjee and Arup Biswas. Tight security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful voting. As many as 789 companies of central armed police forces have been deployed to guard 15,940 booths. State police forces have also been deployed at strategic locations to aid central forces. Elections for 294 seats in Bengal are being held in eight phases, results on May 2.