Bhawanipur records 53.32 pc turnout till 5 pm

Bhabanipur (West Bengal) [India], September 30 (ANI): Voting has largely been peaceful in Bhabanipur Assembly seat, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting, with 53.32 percent turnout till 5 pm on Thursday, officials said.
As per the election commission data, the voter turnout at the Bhabanipur constituency stood at 53.32 per cent at 5 pm on Thursday. The figure has stayed on the lower side all throughout the day, standing at 48.08 per cent at 3 pm, 35.97 per cent at 1 pm, 21.73 per cent at 11 am and 7.57 per cent at 9 am.
A clash broke out between BJP and TMC supporters in the Bhabanipur Assembly seat and BJP leader Kalyan Chaubey's car was also allegedly vandalised.
Bypoll also took place at the Samerganj and Jangipur constituency of West Bengal. Here, Samerganj reported 78.60 per cent of voter turnout and Jangipur reported 76.12 per cent voter turnout.
Bhabanipur by-poll has become a prestige battle for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is presently not an MLA.
Notably, Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram constituency in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.
Following this, the Bhabanipur Assembly seat was vacated by the West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for Mamata Banerjee to contest from Bhabanipur seat as a move to continue to hold her post.
Bharatiya Janata Party fielded 41-year-old Priyanka Tibrewal against the TMC supremo.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC registered a landslide victory in polls winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. The BJP lost the polls but emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats. (ANI)