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Congress candidate for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll Milan Pradhan on Tuesday alleged that his polling agent was being taken away, claiming that hooligans had been active in the area for the past two days as polling continued for the Assembly bypolls.
Speaking to the reporters, Pradhan said, "This is a by-election. Citizens have to certainly vote in the election. That is our freedom. Hooligans have been let loose here for two days now. They picked up my polling agent. This is not right. We have informed the election office. But there is not much response." Meanwhile, Presiding Officer Alok Bag at polling station 79, Nandanayakbar Primary School, said voting was proceeding peacefully, and all necessary preparations and security arrangements were in place. "There is no problem in polling. Everything has been peaceful since yesterday. Everything is fine. Our preparations are in place. Polling has begun after the mock poll. CM is a voter here. There is tight security here. A webcast is being done here. There are 709 voters here. Polling will continue until 6 pm, Bag said. Voting began early this day for by-elections to five Assembly seats across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, along with a Lok Sabha seat in Assam. In West Bengal, bypolls are being held in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies. The Nandigram seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won from two constituencies in the State Assembly elections earlier this year and chose to retain the other seat. The Rejinagar seat fell vacant following the resignation of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder Humayun Kabir, who had also secured victory from Nowda. The counting of votes will take place on October 9. The Election Commission stated that the entire election process is scheduled to be completed before October 11. (ANI)
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