Bypolls for the assembly constituencies of Kharagpur Sadar, Karimpur and Kaliaganj in West Bengal are currently underway.
The BJP candidate from the Karimpur constituency, Jay Prakash Majumdar, has alleged assault by Trinamool Congress workers on his way to a polling booth.
The results for the bypolls will be declared on 28 November.
The bypolls for the Karimpur and Kharagpur Sadar seats were necessitated by their respective MLAs – the Trinamool Congress’ Mahua Moitra and the BJP’s Dilip Ghosh – being elected as Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha Elections which concluded in May 2019.
Bypolls in Kaliaganj are being held due to the death of sitting Congress MLA, Parmathanath Roy.
The Congress’ Dhitashree Roy, supported by the CPI(M), are up against the TMC's Tapan Deb Sinha and BJP's Kamal Chandra Sarkar.
In Karimpur, the CPI(M)-Congress’ Gholam Rabbi is contesting against the TMC's Bimalendu Singha Roy and BJP's Jay Prakash Majumdar, while in Kharagpur Sadar, Pradip Sarkar of the TMC will on BJP’s Prem Chandra Jha and CPI(M)-Congress’ Chittaranjan Mandal.
The Assam NRC, from which 19 lakh people were left out, most of whom were Hindus, is being said to be a major influence in these bypolls, especially since the BJP has thereafter been pushing for a nationwide NRC. However, the BJP’s perceived “victory” on the Ayodhya issue may be an important polling factor as well.
The Trinamool Congress campaign, on the other hand, is being handled by Prashant Kishor’s political consultancy, I-PAC, which has been hired to handle the party’s campaign for the 2021 state assembly elections.
BJP CANDIDATE FROM KARIMPUR ALLEGES ASSAULT
BJP candidate from Karimpur Jay Prakash Majumdar was manhandled and assaulted, allegedly by workers of the Trinamool Congress, on his way to a polling booth.
News agency ANI tweeted a video of Narayan being pushed into a bush and then being kicked and punched.
Other minor instances of false voting and clashes between party workers have also been reported by local sources from across the three constituencies.
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