Barring a few stray incidents of clashes in the Chowringhee Assembly segment in the city, by-polls in the two constituencies --Basirhat Dakshin being the other -- in West Bengal were peaceful on Saturday.
Although voter turnout in Chowringhee was thin, voters in Basirhat Dakshin, primarily a rural constituency in North 24 Parganas district, came out in large numbers.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer, Sunil Kumar Gupta, up till 6 p.m., 47.13 per cent and 79.59 per cent votes were polled in Chowringhee and Basirhat Dakshin respectively.
The polling percentage was lower than the Lok Sabha polls a few months ago, he said.
Describing this as a usual trend Mr. Gupta said: “The voter turnout in by-polls is usually lesser than general or Assembly election. Complaints lodged by parties were far lesser than previous elections. No major incidents were reported.”
According to officials, political parties lodged 18 minor complaints of electoral malpractices in Basirhat Dakshin constituency, while 10 such complaints were lodged in Chowringhee seat.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in Chowringhee Ritesh Tewari alleged that he was assaulted by All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) activists in Ganesh Chandra Avenue area. While the BJP alleged threats and attacks in other areas like Posta, two women activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were beaten up in Sealdah in north Kolkata .
Congress candidate from Chowringhee Santosh Pathak also got embroiled in a scuffle with AITC leader with Iqbal Ahmed. The Opposition parties made allegations that AITC councillors from other parts of the city had gathered in the constituency to influence voters.
