Kolkata: Voting is underway in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur, besides Jangipur and Samserganj seats in Murshidabad district on Thursday. Voter turnout of 40.23 per cent, 36.11 per cent  and 21.73 per cent were recorded till 11 am in Samserganj, Jangipur polls and Bhabanipur bypoll, respectively.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal in Bhabanipur by-poll. Polling began at 7 am in Bhabanipur and two other constituencies amid tight security and stringent COVID-19 measures.

Few hours after the polling started, BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal said, "TMC`s Madan Mitra has purposely shut the voting machine here as he wants to capture the booth."

"We're hoping for fair elections. Security deployment is very important. I will visit polling booths in the area today. The state government is in fear right now, she said. 

Read: https://24x7liveindia.com/kanhaiya-kumar-jignesh-mewani-join-congress-in-presence-of-rahul-gandhi

Calcutta High Court Tuesday refused to stay 30th September Bhabanipur assembly by-polls. Bypoll to Bhabanipur was necessitated following the resignation of Trinamool Congress MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay to facilitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's election to the assembly.

In the assembly elections held in May 2021, Mamata Banerjee lost in a cliffhanger in Nandigram to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, her former protege. Suvendu Adhikari was declared the winner by 1,956 votes. Suvendu Adhikari had vowed to quit politics if he didn’t defeat Mamata Banerjee by more than 50,000 votes. 

Taunting his former mentor, Adhikari had also asked her to be ready with a letterhead that says: “Former chief minister”.