Kolkata: The result of the Bhabanipur by-poll will be declared on Sunday and all eyes will be set on the verdict here as this will decide the fate of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is in the fray from this seat.
Banerjee, who lost the election in Nandigram to protégé-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has to win this by-poll to retain her post.
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The Bhabanipur by-poll has become a prestige battle for Banerjee, who is presently not an MLA and has to become a member of the state legislature by November 5.
BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal is in the contest against Banerjee from this seat where the voting on September 30 witnessed a modest turnout of 53.32 percent.
The BJP had earlier lodged a complaint against TMC ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee for allegedly “influencing” the voters in Bhabanipur.
Alleging the ruling party in West Bengal had forcibly stopped voting at a polling booth in ward number 72, Tibrewal earlier said: “There are people from outside casting their votes in Bhabanipur. One of them was caught by us at Khalsa Girls’ High School. But a TMC leader took that person away from the spot while police remained mute spectators.”
She added the TMC is “indulging in scientific rigging to win the election”.
A minor scuffle had broken out between the TMC and BJP supporters outside a polling booth in Bhabanipur constituency over claims of fake voters.
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The security forces on duty, however, brought the situation under control.
The by-poll was held in Bhabanipur along with the elections to two seats Samserganj and Jangipur in Murshidabad district where polling could not be held during the eight-phase assembly polls earlier this year.