Armed Central forces were seen at every booth and photo identity card of every voter was being checked before they were let in.
Amidst heavy security arrangement, bypolls were conducted at Maheshtala in South 24 Parganas. Voters claimed that the process was peaceful compared to the recently-concluded Panchayat polls and had there been a deployment of Central forces during panchayat polls, there would have been a lot less bloodshed.
Armed Central forces were seen at every booth and photo identity card of every voter was being checked before they were let in.
The poll process was carried out at 283 booths of the constituency. It began at 7 am and continued until 6 pm, the time being extended because of Ramzan. Till 5 pm the poll percentage was 70.01.
TMC has fielded Dulal Das, local TMC leader and husband of the deceased MLA Kasturi Das, which had necessitated the bypoll. Former IPS officer Sujit Ghosh is the BJP candidate and CPI(M) pitched Prabhat Choudhury. While TMC said that their candidate would win with a margin of at least 50,000 votes, CPI(M), on the other hand, said that Samik Lahiri, their candidate during the last Assembly election, had been defeated by a few thousand votes, which Choudhury would win back this time.
Reports from different booths regarding faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) kept flowing in which delayed the poll process.
Election Commission sources said that about 50 complaints had been filed of faulty EVMs, VVPATs and alleged illegal gathering. "All problems have been addressed," said an official from the Election Commission. He also said that a monitoring cell had been put up at the commission office.
TMC secretary general and state minister Partha Chatterjee said that he had had a word with Election Commissioner. "There were complaints of about 35 EVMs being out of order. I talked to the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Electoral Officer demanding some extra poll time," Chatterjee said.
BJP district president for South 24 Parganas alleged that TMC workers had put hundreds of cycles which had been given by the government under the Sabuj Saathi project, outside polling booths, to influence voters. "A complaint in this regard has been put with the commission," he said.
The number of legitimate voters of the area is 2,48,754 out of whom 1,27,178 are male, 1,32,569 females and seven others. To maintain law and order, 10 companies of Central forces have been deployed. Counting is on May 31.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Bicycles allegedly kept by TMC")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}