WB: Counting underway for Asansol Lok Sabha, Ballygunge Assembly bypolls

The counting of votes, which began at 8 am, for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and Ballygunge Assembly seat bypolls is underway in West Bengal on Saturday.

Voting for the bypolls was held on April 12. Trinamool Congress has fielded former Union Minister Shatrughan Sinha while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominated Agnimitra Paul from the Asansol constituency for the bypoll.

For the Ballygunge Assembly by-poll, the BJP has fielded Keya Ghosh while Saira Shah Halim is the CPI(M) candidate. Former Union minister Babul Supriyo is also in the fray from the TMC.

The bypoll for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat was necessitated after Supriyo resigned from the lower House after quitting the BJP. He later joined the TMC. The Ballygunge Assembly seat bypoll was necessitated after the demise of state Minister Subrata Mukherjee.

Speaking to ANI, Supriyo said, "I'm confident (of win). The 41 per cent voters' turnout here rubbishes the Opposition's unnecessary claims of false voting. Had that been the case, would the turnout have been this huge? West Bengal is with Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and TMC."

On the polling day on April 12, the BJP's Lok Sabha bypoll candidate Agnimitra Paul had alleged that the TMC workers thrashed her security personnel and pelted stones at her convoy while the TMC candidate Babul Supriyo also alleged electoral malpractice on the part of the BJP.