Kolkata: Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday cast his vote at Nandanayakbar Primary School, one of the model polling stations in Nandigram during the Nandigram byelection.
Adhikari, who was seen arriving in an e-rickshaw, was seen interacting with people outside the booth after casting his vote.
“I didn’t take any privilege but stood in the line to cast my vote. I am getting a smell that this time all the previous records will break and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win by a huge margin. I will always be the voter of Nandigram,” said Adhikari.
Turnout in two constituencies
Notably, till 5 pm, poll percentage at Nandigram was 79.39 and at Rejinagar 78.42 per cent. Byelection took place in two Assembly constituencies as Adhikari also won from Bhabanipur constituency, defeating former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Adhikari retained Bhabanipur and had resigned from the Nandigram constituency. AJUP MLA Humayun Kabir also had won from two constituencies, Nawda and Rejinagar. Kabir retained Nawda and vacated Rejinagar constituency in Murshidabad district.
Congress alleges booth capture
Milan Pradhan, Congress candidate of Nandigram, alleged that the ruling party had ‘captured’ Nandigram and were not allowed to cast Congress supporters' votes and also alleged biased action of the police and security forces.
Few women from minority areas also complained that they were not allowed to cast their votes in Nandigram.
Reacting to the complaints, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that Congress doesn’t have any supporters in Nandigram, for which people from outside Nandigram were brought for campaigning.
Kabir briefly detained
In Rejinagar, Kabir was briefly detained by Rejinagar Police and taken away from his party office in Murshidabad after he had cast his vote.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slammed Kabir and said that he is acting at the behest of BJP.
“This Humayun Kabir took money for building Babri Masjid in Rejinagar. He is working as per BJP’s instruction just to divide Muslim votes. BJP promised to build Ram Mandir before coming to power. Kabir is playing the same communal politics of the mosque,” mentioned Chowdhury.
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TMC alleges electoral irregularities
Taking to X, TMC had shared a video and wrote, “The electoral process in Bengal is being COMPLETELY HIJACKED by the @BJP4Bengal administration! A local resident from Rejinagar has shared a disturbing video that appears to show police preventing ordinary citizens from exercising their right to vote, while allegedly allowing proxy voting to take place in broad daylight - right under the police’s watch. Shame on you, @SuvenduWB. Instead of protecting the democratic rights of Bengal’s people, you are pushing the state towards a deeply undemocratic regime.”
