Thursday, 19 June 2025
Thursday, 19 June 2025
A voter turnout of 69.85 per cent was recorded till 5 PM on Thursday in the by-election to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency in West Bengal’s Nadia district, with polling largely peaceful except for a few isolated incidents, officials said.
"Polling has been peaceful. There was no report of any incident from anywhere in and around the constituency. Till 5 pm, the polling was 69.85 per cent," an election official told PTI.
Polling, which began at 7am, was scheduled to conclude at 6 pm.
Sources suggest that the turnout may increase further, as queues were observed outside polling booths.
The by-election was necessitated by the sudden demise of TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed in February.
The ruling Trinamool Congress has fielded his daughter, Alifa Ahamed, a 38-year-old BTech graduate and corporate professional, as its candidate.
The BJP has nominated Ashis Ghosh, while Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh is contesting with the backing of the CPI(M).
A total of 14 companies of central forces were deployed across the constituency to ensure free and fair polling.
While the overall process remained peaceful, minor tension was reported from a few booths.
At Chandghar Adarsha Vidyapith's booth number 56, the Congress alleged that its polling agent was forcibly removed by Trinamool Congress workers, an allegation denied by the ruling party.
In the same area, long queues of voters were seen after a brief respite from rain.
TMC candidate Ahamed cast her vote and urged voters to come out in larger numbers.
"To build a development-driven Kaliganj, everyone must exercise their franchise. Vote for the deserving candidate," she said, taking a swipe at the BJP: "They can't even manage to seat polling agents. What can we do about that?"
Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh, who cast his vote at booth number 45 in Barochandghar High School, said, "The weather is very good. Kaliganj is an agrarian region, so the rains are welcome. Security is good. Voting will be peaceful." BJP candidate Ashis Ghosh, after casting his vote, expressed confidence of victory.
However, he objected to the polling procedure, alleging that officials deliberately applied the indelible ink on his middle finger instead of the index finger under the "insistence" of TMC agents.
"First, they missed putting the ink on my finger when I went to vote. Then, after I noticed it and returned, they deliberately marked my middle finger. This is a pre-planned political conspiracy by the TMC," Ghosh alleged.
He later posed for photographs showing his ink-marked middle finger.
Poll officials confirmed no rules were violated but said they had sought a report from the District Magistrate regarding the incident.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission officials removed party flags and festoons found within 100 metres of several polling booths in Kaliganj.
Voters were not allowed to carry mobile phones inside polling stations and were instructed to deposit them at designated spots under the supervision of Commission-appointed volunteers.
Despite the rainfall affecting early turnout, both TMC and BJP offered differing assessments of the polling process.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "We will retain the seat with a record margin. The people will give a befitting reply to the Left-Congress alliance and the BJP." However, BJP state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed doubts over the turnout data.
"When television footage showed low turnout at various booths due to the rains, how come a turnout of nearly 70 per cent was achieved?" he said.
"This high turnout despite our booth agents and television showing fewer people only proves there is some mischief by the TMC." The counting of votes is scheduled for June 23
