Lower voter turnout in Baranagar and Bhagawangola by-elections
Kolkata: The polling percentage in the by-elections for the Baranagar and Bhagawangola Assembly seats was lower compared to the turnout in the Lok Sabha polls for these segments. Polling was held on June 1, during the last phase.
It was presumed that the voters might have pressed the EVM buttons meant for Lok Sabha elections but they did not cast their votes on the EVMs that were meant for Assembly by-elections.
Both the EVMs for Lok Sabha and Assembly were put side-by-side within the same polling booth. According to the Election Commission data, the Baranagar Assembly by-election registered 73.18 per cent votes while in the same Assembly segment recorded 73.23 per cent votes for the Lok Sabha.
Bhagawangola Assembly seat registered 80.07 per cent votes in the by-elections while the percentage in the Lok Sabha elections in the same Assembly segment went up to 80.26. The Baranagar Assembly bypoll was held on June 1, along with the Lok Sabha constituencies, including Dum Dum, Kolkata North and Kolkata South. Baranagar Assembly falls under the Dum Dum Lok Sabha seat. The Baranagar Assembly by-election was necessitated by the resignation of sitting Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Tapas Roy, who defected to BJP.
A by-election in the Bhagawangola Assembly in Murshidabad was held on May 7. The Bhagawangola bypoll has been necessitated due to the death of sitting TMC MLA Idris Ali on February 16. The Election Commission, however, did not announce bypoll for the vacant Maniktala Assembly segment due to ongoing litigation in the High Court. Maniktala Assembly seat has been vacant since February 2022 after minister and three-time MLA Sadhan Pande died on Feb 20, 2022.
But before the death, BJP’s Kalyan Choubey, who fought here in 2021, had filed a
petition in HC, questioning Pande’s victory.
Incidentally, complaints about violence, EVM breakdown and even false voting were reported during the Assembly bypoll at Baranagar.
Voting machines at over 55 booths under the Baranagar Assembly faced technical issues, which took almost two hours to be resolved at some places. At booths in South Baranagar, Bonhooghly and Tobin Road, polling could begin only after 9 am. Several booths, including Alambazar and Tobin Road, saw voting going on till late in the evening.
