Voting for the by-election in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh assembly constituency began at 7 am on Monday amid tight security, a poll official said.
Though 18 candidates, including 14 Independents, are in the fray, the contest will be mainly between the Congress, an ally of the ruling JMM-led coalition, and the AJSU Party, which has tied up with the BJP for the poll.
The by-election was necessitated after the disqualification of Congress legislator Mamta Devi, following her conviction in a criminal case.
The Congress has fielded Mamta Devi’s husband, Bajrang Mahto, from the seat while the AJSU Party has nominated its leader Sunita Choudhary.
Over 3.34 lakh voters, including 1.61 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election.
West Bengal:
Voting for the by-election in West Bengal’s Sagardighi assembly constituency in Murshidabad district began at 7 am on Monday, amid tight security, a poll official said.
Candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress, the opposition BJP and the Congress-Left alliance are the main contestants.
The TMC and BJP fielded Debashish Banerjee and Dilip Saha respectively, while the Left-supported Congress candidate is Bayron Biswas.
The by-poll to the Sagardighi assembly seat was necessitated by the death of its three-time TMC MLA and state minister Subrata Saha in December last year.
Apart from more than 60 per cent minority population, the rural seat also has around 18.5 per cent Scheduled Caste and 6.5 per cent Scheduled Tribe population.
It has approximately 2.3 lakh voters.