RAMGARH: A voter turnout of over 63 per cent was recorded till 3 PM in the by-election to West Bengal's Sagardighi assembly constituency in Murshidabad district on Monday, an election official said.
Candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress, the opposition BJP and the Congress-Left alliance were the main contestants.
The TMC and BJP fielded Debashish Banerjee and Dilip Saha respectively, while the Left-supported Congress candidate is Bayron Biswas.
The by-poll to the Sagardighi assembly seat was necessitated by the death of its three-time TMC MLA and state minister Subrata Saha in December last year.
Apart from more than 60 per cent minority population, the rural seat also has around 18.5 per cent Scheduled Caste and 6.5 per cent Scheduled Tribe population. It has approximately 2.3 lakh voters.
The ruling TMC, accused the CRPF of trying to influence the voters.
"Sagardighi Bypolls is a SHINING example of @BJP4Bengal's UNDEMOCRATIC approach and their BLATANT MISUSE of power. Elections are won by catering to people, BJP, not by HARASSING them. Take a look at how the CRPF is trying to influence voters," the party tweeted while sharing a video.
The opposition BJP, however, charged the TMC with trying to create an issue out of a non-issue.
"The CRPF has put up a strong vigil, and that's the reason behind the TMC's allegation and displeasure," BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.
The TMC, which has been winning the seat since 2011, won in 2021 by a margin of nearly 50,000 votes, securing more than 50 per cent of the total votes polled, whereas the BJP and the Congress-Left alliance had bagged 24 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.
Jharkhand's Ramgarh assembly by-election:
A voter turnout of over 67.96 per cent voting was registered till 5 pm in the Ramgarh assembly constituency bypoll in Jharkhand, an Election Commission official said.
Though 18 candidates, including 14 Independents, were in the fray, the contest was mainly between the Congress, an ally of the ruling JMM-led coalition, and the AJSU Party, which tied up with the BJP for the bypoll.
The by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case.
The Congress fielded Mamta Devi's husband, Bajrang Mahto, from the seat while the AJSU Party nominated its leader Sunita Choudhary.
Over 3.34 lakh voters, including 1.61 lakh women, were eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election.