The voting in the by-elections held on Tuesday for the two assembly constituencies of Rejinagar and Nandigram in West Bengal, and the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency in Assam, concluded at 6 p.m.
As of 5 p.m., 78.42 percent of votes had been cast in the Rejinagar constituency in Murshidabad district, 79.39 percent in the Nandigram constituency in Purba Medinipur district, and 76 percent in the Nagaon constituency.
Humayun Kabir, the founder of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), who won both the Rejinagar and Naoda constituencies in the West Bengal Assembly election held last April, has resigned from his MLA post in the Rejinagar constituency. Following this, parties including the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s camp, the Trinamool Congress dissident faction, the BJP, and the Congress contested the by-election held there.
After voting with his family in the by-election and returning to his home in Rejina Nagar, Humayun Kabir harshly criticized the police from early morning. He strongly objected to the police being deployed outside his residence. This led to an argument between him and the police. Following this, the police went to the AJUP office in Rejina Nagar, arrested him, and took him away in a vehicle. The incident caused a stir in the area.
In the West Bengal Assembly election, Suvendu Adhikari, who contested on behalf of the BJP in both Nandigram and Bhabanipur constituencies, won both. He defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who contested against him in Bhabanipur. Following this, Suvendu Adhikari resigned from the post of MLA for the Nandigram constituency.
Following this, the candidate announced by Mamata’s camp for the Nandigram by-election met Suvendu Adhikari and joined the BJP. As a result, Mamata said she would support the Congress candidate contesting in that constituency. With Mamata and Congress fighting together, a direct contest emerged between the BJP and Congress in Nandigram.
Pradyut Bordoloi, the Congress MP from Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, resigned from the party as well as from his MP post and joined the BJP. As a result, in the by-election held there, former MLA Sibamani Bora was fielded by Congress, and former IAS officer Debashish Sharma was fielded by the BJP.
Re-polling needed: Congress
Alleging that the ruling BJP engaged in electoral malpractice in the constituencies of Rajnagar and Nandigram, West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar urged that re-polling be conducted in both constituencies.
Similarly, Congress senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury led a march to the District Collector’s office in Baharampur, the district headquarters of Murshidabad, alleging vote theft.
