Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee comes out of Mitra Institution polling booth after casting her vote under Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency.Bhabanipur Assembly Bye-Election 2021 Polling Highlights: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is contesting the bypoll from Bhabanipur Assembly constituency to retain her chair, Thursday cast her vote at Mitra Institution School around 3 pm.
The voter turnout at the Bhabanipur constituency stood at 53.32 per cent at 5 pm on Thursday. The figure has stayed on the lower side all throughout the day, standing at 48.08 per cent at 3 pm, 35.97 per cent at 1 pm, 21.73 per cent at 11 am and 7.57 per cent at 9 am.
Polling began at 7 am on Thursday for the bypolls to the Bhabanipur seat and two other constituencies amid tight security and stringent Covid-19 measures. To ensure watertight security and peaceful polling in Bhabanipur on Thursday, the Election Commission on Wednesday decided to bring in 20 more companies of Central Armed Police Personnel.
The constituency, which has twice elected Mamata and is considered her home, has pitted the Trinamool Congress supremo against two young faces — BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal and the CPM’s Srijib Biswas. However, the polling, this time, assumes special significance as Banerjee is fighting to continue as the state CM, while the BJP is eyeing an encore of Nandigram where the Trinamool chief contested and lost to Suvendu Adhikari in the Assembly polls held earlier this year.
The bypolls are being held in south Kolkata’s Bhabanipur, and Jangipur and Samserganj seats in Murshidabad district. A total 6,97,164 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the three constituencies. Votes will be counted on October 3. The Pipili seat in Puri, Odisha, also goes to the polls today.
A hoarding put up by the TMC in Bhabanipur. (Express Photo: Partha Paul)
Poll percentage at 5 pm:
Samserganj: 78.60%
Jangipur: 76.12%
Bhabanipur: 53.32%
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is contesting the bypoll from Bhabanipur Assembly constituency to retain her chair, Thursday cast her vote at Mitra Institution School around 3 pm.
Samserganj: 72.45%
Jangipur: 68.17%
Bhabanipur: 48.08%
Priyanka Tibrewal, the BJP candidate for Bhabanipur by-poll, alleged that TMC is paying some people to cast a vote "A man confessed to me that TMC paid him Rs 500 to cast vote. He was from Bansdroni. I have informed the authorities," she said.
45.32% voter turnout recorded till 1pm in Odisha's Pipili Assembly bypoll. (PTI)
BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal has filed a complaint stating that fake voters were sent to four schools in Bhabanipur.
Poll percentage at 1 pm:
Samserganj: 57.15%
Jangipur: 53.78%
Bhabanipur: 35.97%
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will cast her vote at a booth in the Mitra Institution School in Bhabanipur at 3.15pm.
41 complaints regarding various issues have been lodged with the Election Commission today from three constituencies. Out of 41 complaints, 23 are from Bhabanipur.
Voter turnout continued to be on the lower side in Bhabanipur with only 21.73 per cent people coming out to exercise their franchise till 11 am on Thursday. The figure stood at 7.57 per cent at 9 am. While the turnout in Samserganj constituency was 40.23 per cent, that in Jangipur was 36.11 per cent. Read More
Voting is underway for the bypolls in four assembly segments across India — three in West Bengal: Bhabanipur, Samserganj, and Jangipur; and one in Odisha – Pipli. 24.76% polling has been recorded till 11 am in Odisha's Pipili.
Biju Janata Dal candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy casts his vote for by-poll in Pipili. "There has been no MLA in our constituency (Pipili) since my father's death. Everyone wants their candidate," he said.
Till 9 am, 7.8 per cent of the voters in Odisha's Pipili have cast their votes in the bypolls. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Odisha, Sushil Kumar Lohani, said that to ensure the safety of voters against Covid-19, each of them is being provided with hand gloves, masks, and sanitisers.
The Bhabanipur constituency recorded a low voter turnout of just 7.57 per cent during the first two hours of polling on Thursday. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is contesting the Assembly bypoll from Bhabanipur to retain her Chief Minister’s seat. She is pitted against BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal and CPM’s Sreejib Biswas. Read More
Here are the polling percentages in Bengal at 9 am:
Assembly Constituency 56 — Samserganj: 16.32 per cent
Assembly Constituency 58 — Jangipur: 17.51 per cent
Assembly Constituency 159 — Bhabanipur: 7.57 per cent
Voting in currently underway at Jangipur constituency in Murshidabad amid tight security and strict Covid-19 norms.
Voting was delayed in a booth of Pipili due to EVM malfunction while glitches in the EVM machine were reported in two more booths.
A 90-year-old woman cast her vote at a polling booth in Bhabanipur on Thursday in the election that decides Mamata Bannerjee’s fate as CM.
Voting for bypoll is underway in Pipili, Puri. "We have made appropriate arrangements and have deployed extra security at sensitive polling booths. There are 32 mobile parties deployed for this election," says Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh. (ANI)
Long queues were seen since early morning outside several booths across the constituencies. Voting will continue till 6 pm. The polling centres have been stocked up with masks and sanitisers as part of the Covid-19 guidelines, officials said.
To ensure watertight security and peaceful polling in Bhabanipur on Thursday, the Election Commission has brought in 20 more companies of Central Armed Police Personnel. With this, 35 companies of central forces have been deployed across the constituency.
Priyanka Tibrewal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Bhabanipur bypolls, said that the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government is “in fear” right now, referring to the fact that Banerjee's fate as chief minister hangs in balance, conditional upon the result of the by-election. “We're hoping for fair elections,” Tibrewal said “I will visit polling booths in the area today. The state government is in fear right now.”
Voting has begun for the bypolls in the keenly-watched assembly segment of Bhabanipur and two other constituencies in West Bengal; as well as in Odisha's Pipli. The voting is slated to continue till 6:30pm, according to the Election Commission.