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Kolkata, June 19 (IANS) Polling is underway for the bypolls to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency in Nadia district of West Bengal, one of the five Assembly constituencies in four states where by-elections are being held on Thursday.

The polling at Kaliganj started at 7 a.m. The process in the first hour of polling was more or less peaceful, though complaints of stray events of irregularities were reported from the very first hour.

Because of the bad weather, voter turnout in most of the electoral booths has been extremely low so far. Congress had alleged that in booth number 204 in the Anantapur area, its agent was not allowed to enter the booth.

In booth number 201, the state Congress leadership alleged that the party agent was forced to leave the booth premises due to a threat. The state BJP leadership also complained of similar threats being faced by their agents in booth numbers 21 and 24.

Both Congress and the BJP have blamed the supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress for such irregularities. However, no reaction has come from the ruling party on the matter as yet.

The polling at Kaliganj is being conducted under blanket security coverage with as many as 14 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) being deployed for this single constituency.

The counting will be on June 23.

Bypoll to the Kaliganj Assembly constituency was necessitated following the demise of its erstwhile Trinamool Congress legislator Nasiruddin Ahmed in February at the age of 70.

The bypoll is a three-way contest involving Trinamool Congress, BJP, and Congress-supported by CPI(M)-led Left Front.

Trinamool Congress has nominated Alifa Ahmed, the daughter of the deceased party legislator from the same constituency. Her target is to exceed the winning margin of 46,987 votes achieved in 2021 by her father.

For the BJP candidate Ashish Ghosh, the challenge is to transfer the growing grievances of people on these issues to his favour. His strong point is his organisational abilities as well as his clean and son-of-the-soil image.

For Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh, the target is to ensure the consolidation of continuing and dyed-in-the-wool, dedicated, and remaining vote banks of both Congress and Left Front in Kaliganj.

Political observers feel that the fate of the candidates at Kaliganj is decided by the pattern of voting by the minority voters, who constitute around 60 per cent of the total voters in the constituency.

“If the consolidation of the minority votes goes in favour of Trinamool Congress, as it happened in 2021, then the clean sweep of the ruling party candidate is guaranteed. But in case, Shaikah, who is also a minority candidate and old-timer Congressman from Kaliganj, can make a substantial dent in the minority vote bank, then there are reasons for concern for the Trinamool Congress candidate,” said a city-based political observer.

Nasiruddin Ahmed got elected for the first time from Kaliganj in the 2011 West Bengal elections, which marked the end of the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal and the beginning of the Mamata Banerjee-led and Trinamool Congress-ruled regime.

However, he was defeated by Congress' Hasanuzzaman Sheikh in the 2016 elections. After being out of the corridors of power for five years, Ahmed again got elected in the 2021 Assembly polls.

--IANS

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