CHENNAI/KOLKATA/GUWAHATI: Polling for assembly by-elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam, concluded peacefully on Tuesday.The voting began at 7am across the constituencies. Voters who were in queues at the closing time were allowed to cast their votes, news agency PTI reported.In West Bengal, polling for the Nandigram and Rejinagar assembly constituencies ended at 6pm, with nearly 79% turnout recorded till 5pm, according to the Election Commission.Nandigram recorded 79.39% polling, while Rejinagar registered 78.42%. Voting was largely peaceful, with a few untoward incidents reported.In Tamil Nadu, polling for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram assembly bypolls also ended at 6pm.Turnout till 5pm stood at 83.86% in Madurantakam and 78.53% in Dharapuram. The polling exercise remained peaceful, officials said.Polling for the Thattanchavady assembly bypoll in Puducherry concluded at 6pm, with turnout at 78.83% till 5pm.The final figure was expected to rise as votes cast after 5pm were being collated, PTI reported.In Assam, voting for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll ended at 5pm, with 76% of the 19.05 lakh electors having voted till the close of polling, according to an official.Those who had entered polling stations before the gates closed were allowed to vote.Voting across Nagaon’s eight assembly segments remained peaceful, though minor EVM glitches were reported at a few booths and the machines were replaced.Samaguri recorded the highest turnout at 80.22%, while Raha recorded the lowest at 70.27% till 5pm, PTI reported.Morigaon recorded 72.84% turnout, Nagaon-Batadrava 72.01%, Rupahihat 77.67%, Dhing 77.93%, Jagiroad 76.61% and Laharighat 78.88%.The Nagaon bypoll saw 15 candidates in the fray, with the main contest expected to be between BJP’s Devashis Sharma, Congress’s Sibamoni Bora and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal. Sharma, a former IAS officer, and Bora cast their votes during the polling.The bypoll was closely watched as the BJP sought to expand its presence in the Muslim-majority constituency, while the Congress aimed to retain the seat and the AIUDF sought to revive its influence.In Puducherry, the Thattanchavady bypoll was necessitated after chief minister N Rangasamy resigned from the seat while retaining Mangalam.The contest is being seen as a test for the four-month-old NDA government.Counting of votes for all four sets of bypolls is scheduled for October 9.(With agency inputs)
