Kolkata: The polling for bye-elections for Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and Rejinagar Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district of West Bengal concluded at 6 p.m. on Tuesday with scattered events of tension, voters’ intimidation and electoral malpractices surfacing from both the constituencies throughout the day.
“The average polling percentage in both the constituencies till 5 p.m. on Tuesday had been at 78.90 per cent, with the figure for Rejinagar being at 78.42 per cent and that at Nandigram being at 79.39 per cent. In some of the polling booths in both the constituencies the polling had continued even after 6 p.m., as some of the voters were still standing at the queues. So, the final polling percentage will be clear either later on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. But surely the average polling percentage will cross the 80 per cent mark, which is exceptional as far bypoll standards are concerned,” said a source from the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
At the end of the day, both Congress and the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Mamata All India Trinamool Congress had demanded total repolling for the entire Rejinagar and in some of the booths at Nandigram.
However, the State BJP leadership had rubbished the allegations and claimed that the people in both the Assembly constituencies have voted in a festive mood throughout Tuesday which had been reflected in the high polling percentage recorded in both the seats.
The most important development on Tuesday happened in the first hour after the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder-cum-legislator, Humayun Kabir was arrested on charges of influencing the voters, threatening the police and even holding an on-duty police officer by his collar.
Both Hasirani Rath, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Nandigram and Shakharav Sarkar, the party candidate from Rejinagar, have expressed confidence of winning from the respective Assembly constituencies with comfortable margins.
However, former State Congress President and five-time party Lok Sabha member, Adhikar Ranjan Chowdhury, claimed that since the Congress candidate had a good chance of victory from Rejinagar.
“That is why the ruling BJP supporters, assisted by the police, unleashed massive electoral practices at Rejinagar,” Chowdhury said.
(IANS)
