West Bengal is set to vote in the first phase of the Assembly elections on Thursday amid an increasingly polarised battle in which issues such as corruption and jobs have ceded space to identity, citizenship and the controversy over deleted names from electoral rolls.The opening round of the two-phase election covers 152 of the state’s 294 seats, including all 54 in north Bengal’s eight districts and several in Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum and Hooghly. The BJP had won 59 of the 152 seats in 2021 against the TMC’s tally of 93.A record 2.4 lakh personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed in the state to ensure a “free and fair” election even as the Trinamool Congress alleged the voter list had been “carefully pared by an over-hyper” Election Commission to weaken the ruling party.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed surprise over the deployment of CRPF armoured vehicles for maintaining law and order during the polls, alleging the BJP-led Centre had engaged all wings of the government to work in its favour.Addressing a rally in North 24 Parganas, she said, “Elections are a festival of democracy, not for killing anyone. Around two lakh central force personnel have been brought into Bengal for the elections. This is unprecedented. Are they trying to intimidate me by deploying so many forces?” The TMC chief asked her supporters to lodge FIRs if they faced any atrocities.Leading a roadshow in Sonarpur Dakshin Assembly constituency, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Mamata needed to be ousted from power. “It is time to remove Mamata didi, who came to power with the slogan of ‘Maa, Maati, Manush’ (mother, land, people) but has left Bengal at the mercy of goons. Her only goal now is to make her nephew (TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee) the CM,” Shah said.He also attacked the TMC over alleged industrial decline in the state and “syndicate raj”. “The thugs will flee the state after the BJP comes to power. Remember my promise: after May 5, the syndicate members will escape from Bengal,” Shah said.More than 3.6 crore voters, including 1.75 crore women and 465 of the third gender, across 16 of the 23 districts will exercise their franchise. Most of the over 27 lakh voters whose names were in files before SIR appellate tribunals for consideration to be included in the voter list, however, will not be able to vote. Of them, only 139 names were put back in the list. It’s not clear how many of them were to vote in the first phase. The election for the remaining 142 seats will be held in the second and last phase on April 29.The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking relief for electors who had filed appeals before the SIR appellate tribunals, asking the petitioner to approach the Supreme Court.Meanwhile, the West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer partially relaxed restrictions on motorcycle movement during the polling, allowing office-goers travelling on two-wheelers to commute on production of valid identity cards, an official said on Wednesday.The TMC leadership alleged a number of its leaders and polling agents were arrested, apprehending several more arrests before the election. Mamata’s push-back against the saffron wave has to start from Murshidabad, a district from where the South Bengal region begins.The TMC had won 20 of the 22 seats in Murshidabad in the last Assembly election. This year, the field is crowded with other Muslim party candidates, including Humayun Kabir, who hope to take a slice of her Muslim support base. This can pose a big challenge for Mamata to maintain her past performance.South Bengal has 183 seats and is widely considered a Mamata’s stronghold. She had won 153 of the seats there and 39 of the 57 seats in Rarh Bengal. Parts of both the regions will go to polls in the first phase tomorrow.But a number of factors like the in-fighting in the TMC, local issues such as the potato crisis and a rising pro-Hindu sentiment in various pockets, can pare down her earlier support. If Didi, known for her fighting spirit and ability to unite factional leaders during a crisis, manages to contain the damage, she can still surprise political pundits to clinch victory for the fourth consecutive time.