Polling ends in Bengal with 79 per cent turnout till 5 pm; Congress seeks repoll in both seats

Voting for the bypolls to Nandigram and Rejinagar assembly constituencies of West Bengal concluded at 6 pm on Tuesday, a senior EC official said, adding that those still in the queue would be allowed to vote.

Nearly 79 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the two constituencies, according to the poll panel.

Bypolls to two constituencies began on a tense note on Tuesday, with the arrest of AJUP chief and MLA Humayun Kabir following a confrontation with police in Rejinagar, while the Congress sought repolling in both constituencies over alleged polling irregularities.

Kabir, founder of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), was arrested after a heated exchange with police personnel at his party office in Rejinagar in Murshidabad, hours after accusing the force of acting at the behest of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and urging residents to resist alleged police excesses with mugurs (heavy wooden clubs).

The confrontation, which saw police personnel pull Kabir by his shirt and escort him into a vehicle, brought the spotlight on Rejinagar even as his son, Golam Nabi Azad, contested the seat on the AJUP ticket.

"The MLA of Nowda (Kabir) has been arrested. Law is equal for everyone, and nobody should try to violate it," Adhikari said after casting his vote in Nandigram.

Murshidabad SP Sachin Makkar said Kabir was neither a candidate in the bypoll nor an authorised election agent and could not move around in the manner he had been doing.

Reports subsequently emerged that he had been arrested on allegations of attempting to influence voters and incite them, though formal details of the arrest were not immediately available.

Kabir, who voted with his family earlier in the day, had repeatedly accused the police of intimidating voters and preventing people from exercising their franchise.

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In one of his sharpest attacks, he alleged that Adhikari had "released Alsatians at every booth", likening the police deployment to dogs let loose against voters.

"Will the police attack me and I let them go?" he said, claiming that the detention of 64 of his supporters had failed to silence his party.

The developments underscored the charged atmosphere surrounding the Rejinagar contest, where the battle for minority votes intersects with Kabir's attempt to convert his personal political following into electoral support for his party and family.

The seat fell vacant after Kabir, who won both Rejinagar and Nowda in the 2026 Assembly elections, retained Nowda.

His son is now up against a multi-cornered field comprising BJP candidate Sakharav Sarkar, TMC nominee Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, rival TMC faction candidate Safiuzzaman Sheikh, Congress nominee Mohammad Abdullahil Kafi and CPI(M)'s Syed Asad Ali.

The fragmentation of the contest has made the minority vote a key factor, with competing parties seeking to consolidate their support amid shifting local loyalties.

The confrontation also triggered a protest by the Congress candidate, Mohammad Abdullahil Kafi, who staged a sit-in outside Rejinagar police station, demanding cancellation of the bypoll and fresh polling in the constituency.

In Nandigram, meanwhile, Congress candidate Milan Pradhan alleged that polling agents were being prevented from entering booths and accused the police of failing to act on complaints of intimidation and irregularities.

Pradhan, who was later surrounded by protesting BJP supporters during his visits to polling booths, also alleged that voters had been subjected to a lathicharge at Chakraberia.

He went there to speak to them after reports of an assault, accusing the police of using force.

The CPI(M) alleged that its agents were prevented from entering booths 112, 113, 114 and 122 in the Moradighi area of Dadpur. Opposition parties also claimed that some voters were sent home after indelible ink was applied to their fingers without their being allowed to vote.

A CPI agent was allegedly assaulted at Sarberia and admitted to hospital, while the Congress alleged that groups of motorcyclists were entering Nandigram from neighbouring Khejuri through the Tekhali bridge, prompting a demand that the crossing be sealed.

The Congress also approached the office of the chief electoral officer, alleging that voters were being threatened.

Police detained the Congress president of Nandigram-I block over alleged attempts to create disturbances during polling, a charge also levelled by local BJP leaders.

.West Bengal bypolls in Nandigram, Rejinagar to test BJP's Muslim outreach and Opposition strength.

BJP candidate Hasirani Rath, however, maintained that voting was proceeding peacefully and in a festive atmosphere, dismissing the opposition's allegations as a consequence of its political opposition to the ruling party.

The competing claims highlighted the significance of Nandigram, a constituency that has repeatedly shaped the political narrative of Bengal.

It was the epicentre of the anti-land acquisition movement that helped propel the TMC to power in 2011 and later became the site of Adhikari's victory over Mamata Banerjee in the 2021 Assembly elections.

The BJP has fielded Rath, the mother of Chandranath Rath, a former aide of Adhikari who was shot dead on May 6, two days after the BJP won the Assembly elections.

Her candidature has added an emotional dimension to a contest already steeped in the constituency's turbulent political history.

The TMC nominee, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew after meeting Adhikari, following which Banerjee backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, describing the move as an effort to strengthen the INDIA bloc.

Pradhan, who was arrested in cases linked to the 2007 Nandigram land acquisition agitation, subsequently secured interim bail and returned to campaign.

A rival TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has fielded Mohammad Eteshamul Haque under the 'envelope' symbol, while the CPI has nominated Santigopal Giri, adding further layers to an already fragmented contest.

Despite the confrontations and competing allegations, polling gathered pace through the morning.

The voter turnout in the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies stood at 70.54 per cent till 3 pm.

Voting began at 7 am and is scheduled to continue until 6 pm.