In West Bengal, polls began at 7:00 a.m. (IST) in four districts, namely Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and Murshidabad.

In all, 348 candidates, including 28 women are in the electoral fray for the second phase of polls. Prominent candidates in the fray include Communist Party of India-Marxist's Fire Services Minister, Pratim Chatterjee (Tarakeshwar in Hooghly) and Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rahman (Domkol in Murshidabad), besides Atish Sinha (Congress, Kandhi, Murshidabad) and five-time winner from Howrah Central Ambika Roy (Trinamool).

A total of 507 companies of security forces, including Central para-military personnel, have been deployed in all the four districts.

Hooghly has 19 seats followed by 16 each in Howrah and East Midnapore and 15 in Murshidabad. The total number of voters likely to exercise their franchise is 11.3 million at 12,299 polling stations.

Radio flying squads are on duty and extra forces have been deputed on the Howrah Bridge and Vidyasagar Setu to check false voters from crossing over to Howrah district, police sources said.

Chief Electoral Officer Debasish Sen said that 132 observers were deployed in the four districts. One observer would be present at the four district control rooms during the election, he said. The EC has declared a holiday in these districts.

The main battle will be between the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee.

The first phase of polls on April 17 saw a 70 percent voter turnout in 45 constituencies covering West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts. While in the first phase of polls, the dominating issues were Maoist violence and underdevelopment; the second phase of polls is likely to focus on industrial sickness, problems of law and order, shoddy civic amenities, Bangladeshi infiltration and erosion of the River Ganges.

In Kerala, polling is on for the first phase in six districts that include Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki.

A total of 409 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of polling for 59 seats. An estimated 8.4 million voters, including 4.3 million women, will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of the candidates.

Election Commission officials said the voting would take place in 8,292 polling booths, using 9,121 electronic voting machines.

The major contestants in the fray include, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy (Puthupally), nine of his cabinet colleagues, CPI-M leaders M A Baby (Kundrara), P K Gurudasan (Kollam), RSP leader and Rajya Sabha member N K Premachandran (Chavara).

Preliminary assessments suggest that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by Chief Ministerial contender V.S. Achuthanandan is all set to bounce back after five years.

At least three pre-poll surveys have predicted an LDF sweep, saying it could win close to 100 seats in the 140-member State assembly.

Of the 59 seats, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 45 in 2001.

The first phase is crucial because over the years it has been noticed that whoever wins the most seats in the southern districts, especially in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, emerges the winner.

For the first time, digital cameras would come up in the polling booths in all three phases.

The UDF is seeking a second term on the plank of 'development' and growth achieved by the state in different sectors of economy, while The LDF is seeking to capitalise on the popularity Achuthanandan.(ANI)