After having conducted near-bloodshed-free elections in first four phases of general elections the Election Commission of India has prepared for a foolproof security system ahead of the fifth phase requisitioning a whopping 80,000 central police personnel, sources said.

Bengal goes to fifth phase polling on Monday. Among the seven constituencies where elections would be held are Bangaon (SC) and Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Uluberia in Howrah and Seerampore, Hooghly, and Arambagh in Hooghly districts.

Following repeated appeals from the opposition parties the ECI has increased its forces from a stipulated 750 to 799 companies, sources said adding a large number of booths at Barrackpore, Uluberia, Howrah, Arambagh and Hooghly are sensitive.

The BJP won four seats of Barrackpore, Bongaon, Arambagh and Hooghly whereas the TMC bagged the remaining three constituencies in 2019. The Left which too is a contender in tri-cornered contests won non in the last general elections. Constituency-wise Barrackpore is likely to witness a keen contest between BJP candidate Arjun Singh and Partha Bhowmick of TMC. Bengali film actor Debdut Ghosh is contesting on a CPI(M) ticket with Congress support.

A predominantly manufacturing belt — under the clutches of industrial recession for the past several decades — Barrackpore has been a home to numerous jute and textile mills, a defence manufacturing unit and of course Railways workshop.

Dominated by a large number of Hindi-speaking and Muslim gentry, mostly comprising industrial workers Barrackpore, once a strong Red citadel presents a cosmopolitan character. Arjun Singh considered a strongman wrested the seat from TMC's Dinesh Trivedi by a narrow 15,000 margin in 2019. Subsequently he went to the TMC before returning to the BJP early this year.

Cut to Bangaon bordering Bangladesh from where BJP's Shantanu Thakur a junior Union Minister is competing against TMC's Biswajit Das. Bangaon has a good 21.7% SC Matua community which plays an important role in the elections. With the Union Government implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act to woo the Matua voters and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee calling it a bluff to entrap the community that had come from Bangladesh it would be interesting to witness which way the Matua vote goes.

Howrah on the other hand has 19 candidates vying for the Lok Sabha seat where sitting TMC MP is and former national footballer Prasun Banerjee who is a three-time MP is contesting against BJP's Rantidev Sengupta and CPI(M)'s young advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee. Howrah is likely to present a good tri-corner contest locals say.

In Uluberia on the other hand TMC's Sajda Ahmed is pitted against Arun Uday Pal Chaudhary of BJP and Azahar Mollick of the Congress. The BJP is expecting a good show from the seat once held by CPI(M)'s Hannan Molla. This on account of an expected division of votes between the Congress, backed by the Left and the TMC — in the wake of the minority votes gradually deserting Mamata Banerjee.

In Seeramapore TMC's senior advocate and three time MP Kalyan Banerjee is engaged in a fierce tri-cornered contest with BJP's Kabir Shankar Bose — a former son-in-law — and CPI(M)'s Dipshita Dhar a JNU alumnus.

The neighbouring Hooghly seat which once housed the Tama Motors' Nano car factory before it was blasted off by the TMC Government in the wake of a Supreme Court order finds sitting BJP MP Locket Chatterjee an actress taking on Manadip Ghosh of CPI(M) and TMC's actor-turned politician Archana Banerjee.