BMC contract workers clear sewage sludge from a roadside gutter at Veera Desai Road in Mumbai on Sunday, May 3, as part of pre-monsoon desilting efforts to prevent flooding. (Pics/Atul Kamble)

West Bengal goes to the polls on Thursday, in the first of the two-phase high-stakes, tightly-policed Assembly election, where about 3.6 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in roughly 44,000 polling booths across 152 constituencies in 16 districts. (Pics/PTI)