Kolkata, A voter turnout of 38.28 per cent was recorded in the by-elections of four assembly constituencies in West Bengal till 1 pm on Wednesday, an Election Commission official said.
Among the constituencies, Ranaghat Dakshin recorded the highest turnout at 42.19 per cent, followed by Raiganj at 41.38 per cent, Bagdah at 35.66 per cent and Maniktala at 33.37 per cent.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in Bagdah and Ranaghat Dakshin as the BJP accused TMC activists of assaulting their booth agents and preventing their candidates from visiting some polling stations.
BJP candidates Manoj Kumar Biswas and Binay Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin and Badgah respectively claimed that they were not allowed to visit some stalls.
“I was stopped from visiting the stalls after receiving complaints that TMC goons were beating up BJP workers,” Binay Kumar Biswas said.
Manoj Kumar Biswas alleged that the TMC ransacked BJP camp offices in some areas.
The TMC denied the allegations and called them "baseless".
The BJP also filed a complaint with the Election Commission over these incidents.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue until 6 pm.
Three of the constituencies, Maniktala in Kolkata, Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagdah in North 24 Parganas, are located in the southern part of the state.
The fourth assembly constituency, Raiganj, is situated in the Uttar Dinajpur district of North Bengal.
There are around 10 lakh electorates in the four assembly segments.
The BJP won seats in Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagdah in the 2021 assembly elections. Raiganj was won by the saffron camp in the last assembly elections.
The TMC secured the Maniktala seat in 2021, but it fell vacant after the death of former state minister Sadhan Pandey in February 2022.
Even though the BJP won the other three seats in 2021, the MLAs subsequently switched to the TMC.
The by-elections were necessitated when Raiganj's Krishna Kalyani, Bagdah's Biswajit Das and Ranaghat Dakshin's Mukut Mani Adhikari resigned their seats to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission has deployed around 70 companies of security forces to secure 1,097 polling booths spread across the four seats.
The count will take place on July 13.
Among the constituencies, Ranaghat Dakshin recorded the highest turnout at 42.19 per cent, followed by Raiganj at 41.38 per cent, Bagdah at 35.66 per cent and Maniktala at 33.37 per cent.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in Bagdah and Ranaghat Dakshin as the BJP accused TMC activists of assaulting their booth agents and preventing their candidates from visiting some polling stations.
BJP candidates Manoj Kumar Biswas and Binay Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin and Badgah respectively claimed that they were not allowed to visit some stalls.
“I was stopped from visiting the stalls after receiving complaints that TMC goons were beating up BJP workers,” Binay Kumar Biswas said.
Manoj Kumar Biswas alleged that the TMC ransacked BJP camp offices in some areas.
The TMC denied the allegations and called them "baseless".
The BJP also filed a complaint with the Election Commission over these incidents.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue until 6 pm.
Three of the constituencies, Maniktala in Kolkata, Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagdah in North 24 Parganas, are located in the southern part of the state.
The fourth assembly constituency, Raiganj, is situated in the Uttar Dinajpur district of North Bengal.
There are around 10 lakh electorates in the four assembly segments.
The BJP won seats in Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagdah in the 2021 assembly elections. Raiganj was won by the saffron camp in the last assembly elections.
The TMC secured the Maniktala seat in 2021, but it fell vacant after the death of former state minister Sadhan Pandey in February 2022.
Even though the BJP won the other three seats in 2021, the MLAs subsequently switched to the TMC.
The by-elections were necessitated when Raiganj's Krishna Kalyani, Bagdah's Biswajit Das and Ranaghat Dakshin's Mukut Mani Adhikari resigned their seats to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission has deployed around 70 companies of security forces to secure 1,097 polling booths spread across the four seats.
The count will take place on July 13.
