Bypolls in West Bengal: all eyes on Bhabanipur’s result. Pollings also taking place in Jangipur and Samserganj.
Over three lakh voters in Bhabanipur, a legislative constituency in south Kolkata, will decide the fate of Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who is hoping to enter the state Assembly before the end of her six-month tenure as Chief Minister without being an MLA.
The 12-hour polling period began around 7 a.m. On October 3, the counting of the votes will be done. Ms Banerjee’s party leader, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, resigned to make way for her, necessitating the election.
Reason for Conducting such Bypolls Now
Despite her own party’s overwhelming victory in the April-May Assembly elections, she could not win Nandigram.
The BJP fought hard there, led by Suvendu Adhikari, a confidant-turned-foe of the Chief Minister.
According to a PTI report, the TMC chief previously stated that being elected from her home seat was her “destiny.”
She says that her victory is required to continue as chief minister because she will only fight against CAA, NRC, demonetisation, and the BJP’s anti-people policies.
Major Participants:
AITC: Banerjee Mamata
BJP: Priyanka Tibrewal
CPM: Shrijeeb Biswas
Notable Political Icons Casting their Votes
Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister. The CM voted around 3.15 p.m. and exited the polling booth with a confident smile and ‘Namaskar.’
When her nephew and TMC all-India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee emerged from the polling station around 4.20 p.m., he said, the vote went well.
Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader who vacated the Bhawanipur assembly seat for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, voted in the polls on Thursday.
Chattopadhyay, the West Bengal government’s Agriculture Minister, was accompanied to the polling place by his son Sayandeb.
After voting for the chief minister, he expressed his joy and called Banerjee one of the country’s top leaders.
Nuisance on the Election Day
Priyanka Tibrewal began her journey at 5.30 a.m. and crisscrossed every ward, raising several allegations against the TMC.
TMC supporters alleged that BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal entered a booth with armed guards.
They claimed that Priyanka was travelling with the convoy, which was also illegal. Ashim Basu, the TMC coordinator for Ward 70, apprehended an outsider in the booth and turned him over to the police.
TMC claims he was a phoney voter. Tibrewal claimed that the TMC pays people to vote. A man admitted to her that the TMC paid him Rs 500 to vote. He was a native of Bansdroni.
She told news agency ANI that she had informed the authorities. She stated, “How can people open businesses when Section 144 is in effect?” It’s been brought up.
She also claimed that Ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee were attempting to sway voters in some areas.
The BJP claimed that she caught some phoney voters at Khalsa Model School. The BJP claimed that TMC workers intimidated some voters. In the evening, a BJP leader claimed that his car had been attacked and the TMC was to blame.
The left candidate was also seen moving around at several booths, and he requested that the Election Commission investigate the allegation of “ghost” voting.
The BJP’s election war room said they received numerous calls in the final 20 minutes of voting complaining of massive rigging in wards 70, 71, 74, and 82.
