After a rigorous campaign, candidates in the first phase of assembly polls in West Bengal seem to have made good use of the “silence period” with some of them catching up with home-cooked food and others working out logistics for the polling day.

A total of 30 seats are going to the polls in the first phase on Saturday. These are spread across tribal-dominated Purulia, Jhargram and parts of Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur districts.

Talking to ANI, BJP candidate from Medinipur Samit Das said that the challenge was not over yet and he did some election-related work on Friday. He said apart from looking at issues related to the postal ballot, he visited BJP workers “who were threatened by the opposition”. He also met booth-level workers virtually today

Swapan Beltharia, Trinamool Congress candidate in Kashipur, said he talked to his polling agents for glitch-free polling on Saturday.

Mr Beltharia said that he missed home-cooked during campaigning. “I spent some time with family members and had home-cooked food,” he said.

BJP’s Patashpur candidate Ambujaksha Mahanti said he held a meeting with party candidates on matters related to elections.

The silence period begins 48 hours before the voting day and ends after the conclusion of polling. It entails that there should not be any direct or indirect reference amounting to soliciting support for parties or candidates in the constituencies observing the silence period.

During the silence period, star campaigners and other political leaders are required to refrain from addressing the media by way of press conferences and giving interviews on election matters.