Kolkata, Feb 23 (PTI) An average of 76 per cent polling was recorded in the bypolls to three Assembly constituencies of Rezinagar, Englishbazar and Nalhati in West Bengal, election commission sources said here. Barring some minor incidents, polling was peaceful in all the three constituencies under the supervision of central forces, police sources said. Election commission sources said the polling percentage might rise as large queues of voters were present in many booths even after 5:00 pm, the end of polling. Trinamool Congress, Congress, BJP and Left Front constituents CPI(M), RSP and Forward Bloc contested in all the seats. The Trinamool Congress contested the by-elections on its own. By-elections to Rezinagar in Murshidabad district and Englishbazar in Malda district were necessitated after sitting MLAs Humayun Kabir and Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury defected from Congress to Trinamool Congress and were later inducted into the Mamata Banerjee ministry. In Nalhati in Birbhum district, the bypoll was necessiated after Abhijit Mukherjee, the son of President Pranab Mukherjee, was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Jangipur Parliamentary seat vacated by his father to contest the presidential election. Results of the three seats would be declared on February 28. Left Front chairman Biman Bose said that the presence of central forces helped in peaceful conduct of the bypolls and they should also be deployed during the ensuing panchayat elections in the state. PTI PB PC PMS
