Senior citizens and Women voters in queue to vote at Thattanchavady in Puducherry
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 . Turnout till 5pm stood at 83.86% in Madurantakam and 78.53% in Dharapuram. 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.
The polling exercise remained peaceful, officials said. The contest is being seen as a test for the four-month-old NDA government.
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.