West Bengal: Voting begins for Sagardighi assembly bypoll

West Bengal: Voting for the by-election in West Bengal's Sagardighi assembly constituency in Murshidabad district began at 7 am on Monday, amid tight security, a poll official said.

Details on candidates

Candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress, opposition BJP and the Congress-Left alliance are the main contestants. The TMC and BJP fielded Debashish Banerjee and Dilip Saha respectively, while the Left-supported Congress candidate is Bayron Biswas.

Bypoll scheduled after the death of TMC MLA Subrata Saha

The by-poll to the Sagardighi assembly seat was necessitated by the death of its three-time TMC MLA and state minister Subrata Saha in December last year.

Details on voter count

Apart from more than 60 per cent minority population, the rural seat also has around 18.5 per cent Scheduled Caste and 6.5 per cent Scheduled Tribe population. It has approximately 2.3 lakh voters.

Other bypolls conducted today

The sudden death of Congress Legislator Thirumahan Eveera prompted elections in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu. This election, the DMK and Thirumahan Eveera's father, Congress Senior Leader EVKS Elangovan, are running as a team.

This is the first by-election since the DMK took power, and CM M K Stalin and his entourage treat it as a prestige contest.

The disqualification of Congresswoman Mamta Devi due to her conviction in a criminal case forced the by-election in Jharkhand's Ramgarh. The AJSU Party's leader Sunita Choudhary, is running for the seat against the Congress' nomination of Mamta Devi's husband, Bajrang Mahto.