West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of booth capture in Nandigram where she is contesting against her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari. "...They didn't allow the local people to cast their vote. From morning I am campaigning...Now I am appealing to you, please see...," a visibly upset Ms Banerjee was seen complaining to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar over the phone in a video shared by ANI.

 

Mamata leader has also accused the Election Commission of not taking action despite a formal complaint by her party. "Have lodged 63 poll related complaints since morning, no action by Election Commission," Mamata Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Ms Banerjee's party has accused the BJP of booth capture in Nandigram. "Huge mob of BJP workers have entered booth no.s 6, 7, 49, 27, 162, 21, 26, 13, 262, 256, 163, 20. BJP workers attempting to take control of EVM & rigging the booth," Trinamool's Derek O'Brien has written to the Election Commission.

 

Assam - where the first phase of polls were held on March 27 along with Bengal - will also see high profile candidates, including a numbers of ministers in the outgoing government, among the 345 candidates in the battle for the 39 seats that go to polls in the second phase.

 

For Mamata Banerjee, and the BJP, the battle for Nandigram is a prestige fight because it was the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement in the region that helped her capture power in the state for the first time.

 

Stray incidents of violence have been reported in Bengal where voting is being held in 30 seats, including the high profile Nandigram constituency, in the second phase of state polls. Stones were thrown at BJP candidate Pritish Ranjan Konar's car in Keshpur. Earlier, a polling agent of the BJP was beaten up allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers in Keshpur, news agency ANI reported.

 

Trinamool and BJP are contesting in all the 30 seats, while CPI(M) is contesting in 15 and its alliance partners of Sanjukta Morcha the Congress and ISF are competing in 13 and two seats respectively.

 

In Assam,  the ruling BJP is contesting in 34 seats and its allies, the AGP in six and the UPPL in three. The Congress, meanwhile, is contesting in 27 while its partners, the AIUDF, in eight and BPF in four.