Voting began in three seats of West Bengal and a Uttarakhand Assembly seat at 7 am Monday morning (Representational Image)
West Bengal, Uttarakhand Bye-Election 2019 Highlights: Violence marred West Bengal bypoll as senior BJP leader and party’s candidate for Karimpur Assembly by-poll Jay Prakash Majumdar was on Monday allegedly beaten up by TMC activists. Holding TMC “goons” responsible for the act, he said, wounds will heal but the incident is a “clear” sign of the “end of democracy” in West Bengal. The EC has sought reports about the incident.
Apart from Karimpur, voting is underway in Bengal’s Kharagpur Sadar and Kaliaganj Assembly seats. Polling is also underway in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh seat.
In Bengal, the bypolls are expected to be a litmus test for the ruling TMC and BJP ahead of 2021 state elections, while in Uttarakhand the saffron party is banking on the sympathy factor as it fielded the wife of former late MLA from Pithoragarh.
The results for all the four seats will be announced on Thursday.
Polling percentage till 5pm are as follows —
Kaliagunj 77.79 per cent
Karimpur 81.23 per cent
Kharagpur 67.62 per cent
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said the party's candidate in Karimpur assembly Jay Prakash Majumdar was attacked by "TMC goons". The manner in which Mamata Banerjee is resorting to political violence to win the by-elections shows her jitteriness and the Election Commission should take cognisance of it, he said. (PTI)
Hours after BJP candidate for Karimpur assembly seat Jayprakash Majumdar was beaten up by miscreants near Jiyaghat Islampur primary school, BJP leader Mukul Roy has written a letter to Election Commission to draw its attention on the issue.
Trinamool Congress lodges complaint with district officials after BJP state president Dilip Ghosh who is not a voter stays in his residence in Kharagpur. Ghosh stated that he has informed authorities of his stay.
The Elections Commission informed that a total of 38 per cent votes have been cast in the Pithoragarh bypoll till 3 pm.
BJP MP Dilip Ghosh at Railway Garden in Kolkata on Monday. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
In Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh, 27.20 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1 pm. In West Bengal's Kaliaganj, Karimpur and Kharagpur Sagar voter turnout of 49.70, 50.50 and 42.80 was recorded respectively.
TV footage showed Majumdar being beaten up and kicked by some people. Holding TMC "goons" responsible for the act, he said, wounds will heal but the incident is a "clear" sign of the "end of democracy" in West Bengal. The BJP leader alleged that the TMC activists were false voters who had assembled in the area with the intention of rigging polls. "But it will not demoralise me and I will continue to visit all the booths. I have complained to the Election Commission," Majumdar, the vice president of the state unit of the BJP, said.
Denying the allegations as "baseless", the Nadia district unit of the TMC said, locals had attacked Majumdar as they were angry with him for "vitiating" the poll atmosphere. The EC has sought reports about the incident.
In Pithoragarh Assembly seat in Uttarakhand, 15.48 per cent polling has been recorded till 11 am. In West Bengal's Kaliaganj, Karimpur and Kharagpur Sagar voter tunrnout of 31.25, 31.25 and 28.02 was recorded respectively.
In West Bengal, Jayprakash Majumdar the BJP candidate for Karimpur assembly seat was beaten up by miscreants near Jiyaghat Islampur primary school. Majumder alleged Trinamool Congress was behind the incident. Earlier, the BJP member was forced to leave the polling centre after few locals alleged that they were being disturbed. On the other hand, he had alleged that their agent was forced to leave booth number 21, 22,23 of Pipulkhola Primary School due to TMC supporters.
In West Bengal, bypolls are being held in Kharagpur Sadar, Kaliaganj and Karimpur Assembly seats. The Assembly constituencies of Kharagpur Sadar and Karimpur fell vacant after sitting MLAs Dilip Ghosh and Mahua Moitra won the Lok Sabha polls this year, while the bypoll to Kaliaganj seat was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Pramatha Nath Ray on May 31.
4.59 per cent polling recorded till 9 am in Pithoragarh bypolls in Uttarakhand
Amidst Union Home Minister’s Amit Shah’s pitch for a nationwide NRC exercise and the Supreme Court’s recent Ayodhya verdict in favour of a Ram temple, the bypolls are expected to be a litmus test for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP — which emerged as a main opposition in the state after the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year — ahead of 2021 state elections.
The Congress and CPI(M)-led Left Front, which have been pushed to distant third and fourth in the state, are contesting the bypolls after entering into an electoral understanding.
Voting underway for assembly by-poll in Kharagpur Sadar
Welcome to The Indian Express live blog on bypolls in West Bengal and Uttarakhand. Follow this space to track the latest news as voting in underway on the four seats.