Saturday, April 22 2006 11:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: Amid unprecedented security, the second phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal in 66 constituencies in four districts began at 7:00 am this morning.

The four districts where elections are being held are East Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly and Nadia.

The election would decide the fate of 348 aspirants, including 28 women candidates. Prominent candidates in the fray are state ministers Kiranmay Nanda, Probodh Chandra Sinha, Naren Dey and Pratyush Mukherjee.

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

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 each would man the four district control rooms tomorrow during the election, he said.

There are a total of 12,299 polling stations and 1.13 crore voters in four districts.

The EC has declared a holiday under the NI Act in these districts, he said.