KOLKATA: Two of the four Assembly constituencies, where by-elections were held along with two other seats on Saturday, are said to be litmus test for the BJP ahead of the upcoming municipal polls.
Till 5 pm, 70 per cent and 76 per cent electorates turned out at the polling booths in Dinhata and Shantipur constituencies respectively, which were won by the BJP’s two sitting MPs in the Assembly elections who decided to continue as MPs. The other two constituencies, Khardah and Gosaba, which are known as TM’s strongholds, were won by the TMC but both the MLAs died of Covid-19 and the constituencies recorded polling of 64 per cent and 75 per cent respectively till 5 pm.
BJP is desperate to retain the two seats as Dinhata is under the Lok Sabha constituency of Union minister Nisith Pramanik and Shantipur is dominated by Matuas, the Hindu refugee sect migrated from Bangladesh who extended support to the BJP in 2019 general elections and the Assembly polls.
BJP, however, alleged the TMC supporters waylaid the electorates known to be the supporters of the saffron party on their way to the polling booths. ‘’The TMC analysed the election results of the recent Assembly polls and identified the pockets from where we secured comfortable leads. The ruling party’s cadres did not allow the voters to exercise their franchise,’’ alleged BJP’s chief spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya.
In Dinhata, the TMC accused Pramanik, who contested and won the 2021 Assembly polls in the constituency, of intimidating voters by visiting polling booths with his armed security guards. BJP candidate in Khardah, Jay Saha, alleged he identified false voters who came from outside to cast votes in favour of the TMC.
3 northeast states record high voting
Guwahati: High voting percentages were recorded during by-elections to nine Assembly seats in the Northeast on Saturday. Five constituencies in Assam, three in Meghalaya and one in Mizoram went to polls, necessitated either by the deaths of sitting MLAs or their defection. Assam recorded voting percentage of 70.