Dhupguri by-election: Polling concludes peacefully with over 80% turnout

Kolkata, Sep 5 (IANS) The by-election to the Dhupguri Assembly constituency in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district concluded peacefully on Tuesday with over 80 per cent voter turnout, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said.

The officials added that the exact polling percentage will be slightly higher as some voters were still standing in queues at some polling booths even after the expiry of the scheduled polling time. 

Political observers feel that the polling percentage recorded so far is quite high considering the trend of lower turnout in by-elections.

The CEO officials said the polling process was peaceful on Tuesday, with hardly any complaint received from any political party throughout the day.

The counting of votes will be taken up on September 8.

The bypoll in Dhupguri was necessitated by the sudden demise of BJP legislator Bishnu Pada Roy on July 25. Roy had come to Kolkata to participate in the monsoon session of the Assembly. He was admitted to a city hospital after he complained of the chest pain. He died soon after being admitted to the hospital.

The bypoll is witnessing a three-way fight between Trinamool Congress, BJP and Congress-backed CPI(M).

The BJP has fielded Tapasi Roy, the widow of CRPF jawan Jagannath Roy who was martyred in a terror attack at Lawaypora in J&K on March 25, 2021. The Trinamool has fielded Nirmal Chandra Roy, a professor at the Dhupguri Girls College, while the Congress-backed CPI(M) candidate is Ishwar Chandra Roy.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, BJP’s Bishnu Pada Roy had defeated sitting Trinamool MLA Mitali Roy by a margin of 4,355 votes. Being denied re-nomination in the bypoll, Mitali Roy joined the BJP just a couple of days ago.