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Siliguri Mayor and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) candidate for Siliguri Goutam Deb on Monday expressed confidence in the party coming back to power in West Bengal ahead of the start of the vote count for two two-phased assembly polls.
Being SIliguri's mayor since 2022, Deb is looking to make his debut in the state Assembly, saying that he hopes for the people to support him in his political contest. Calling SIliguri his 'motherland', Deb said he has always worked for the betterment of the town, and hoped for a huge wave of public support for him. "As far as Siliguri is concerned, this is my home town, my motherland. I worked hard for the betterment of Siliguri for the whole of my life. I am contesting here for the first time. I worked with all honesty, dignity and sincerity. I hope the people of Siliguri will support me with large numbers," Deb told ANI as he reached the counting centre in the city. "My party is going to set a very comfortable margin at the state level....I am 100% confident that our party will be coming to the power with a handsome majority," he added. Deb is contesting against BJP's Shankar Ghosh, and Congress' Alok Dhara. The 294-seat Bengal assembly is set to see a battle for AITC to retain power, or for the BJP to unseat the party which has managed to hold onto the state since 2009. Security across several counting centres has been heightened in Kolkata. Bhabanipur, which is among the most hot seat in West Bengal due to political battle between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, heavy police were deployed outside the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre in the region. Apart from Bhabanipur, similar visuals emerged from Netaji Indoor Stadium and Chief Electoral Officer's office. A verbal spat broke out between polling agents of both parties, in which TMC alleged of not allowed to take files and pen inside the counting centre, however, the same was allowed to BJP polling agents. "They are not allowing us to take files or pens inside, but the BJP polling agents are allowed to take them inside. Rules should be the same for everyone. We are the people of Mamata Banerjee. There is no bigger identity than this," a TMC polling agent said. On the other hand, the BJP accused the TMC polling agents of not carrying identity cards for entering the polling station. "They are not carrying their ID cards. We are wearing our ID cards. They are creating a ruckus unnecessarily. BJP is winning with a majority in West Bengal and even in Bhabanipur," the BJP polling agent said. The process will commence with the counting of postal ballots at 8:00 am, followed by EVM counting from 8:30 am. Round-wise results will be updated in real time on the ECINET platform and the official Election Commission portal. (ANI)
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