A total of 1.13 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes to decide the fate of 342 candidates, including Siliguri Mayor and Left Front leader Ashok Bhattacharya, state minister Bratya Basu and BJP's Samik Bhattacharya.
The EC, responding to a memorandum submitted by the Trinamul Congress holding it culpable for the alleged attack on Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram yesterday, said the memorandum is full of "insinuations and averments that question the very basis of creation and functioning of election commission."
In the letter, O’Brien has written that Jain be removed for his action during the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, which were “completely biased, partisan, reeked of partiality and tainted”.
The EC has planned to appoint 500 observers and three police observers per district for the eight-phased elections.
