West Bengal voted in marathon eight phases to elect 292 MLAs to the 294-member state Assembly between March 27 and April 29 in the shadow of the devastating second wave of coronavirus. Bypolls to the remaining two seats was necessitated following the death of two candidates due to Covid. Bengal was part of the first major set of elections, after the polls in Bihar, that were held amid an unprecedented crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Thirty assembly constituencies in five districts voted in the first phase on March 27 and thirty constituencies from four districts voted in the second phase on April 1. The third phase, held on April 6, saw elections in 31 constituencies while 44 seats were up for grabs in the fourth phase on April 10. 45 constituencies voted in the fifth phase on April 17 and 43 constituencies in the sixth phase on April 22. The seventh phase saw 36 constituencies voting on April 26 with 35 constituencies voting in the eighth and the final phase on Ap