Kolkata, Oct 9 (PTI) BJP candidates on Friday widened their leads in Nandigram and Rejinagar seats of West Bengal, where counting of votes was underway for the assembly by-elections, according to early EC trends.
BJP made surprise gains in Muslim-majority Rejinagar in Murshidabad district, where its candidate Shankharavh Sarkar was leading by 16,550 votes over his nearest rival, Golam Nabi Azad of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), after the second round of counting.
While Sarkar polled 20,415 votes, Azad, the son of AJUP chief Humayun Kabir, secured 3,865 votes.
Abdullahil Kafi of the Congress was in the third spot with 1,291 votes, according to figures released by the Election Commission on its website.
Mamata All India Trinamool Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury bagged only 753 votes in Rejinagar, while Safiuzzaman Saikh of the rival Democratic Trinamool Congress faction led by Arup Roy polled 295 votes.
In Purba Medinipur’s Nandigram, BJP candidate Hasirani Rath, the mother of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s slain personal assistant Chandranath Rath, was leading by 27,450 votes after the third round of counting.
Rath secured 34,820 votes, while Congress’s Milan Pradhan, who was at the second spot, bagged 7,370 votes. Santi Gopal Giri of the CPI was in the third place with 1,289 votes.
A total of 15 rounds of counting will be held in both the seats.
Counting began at 8 am amid tight security at the counting centres. The bypolls, held on Tuesday, are being watched as an early electoral test of West Bengal’s political landscape following the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections earlier this year.
Nandigram fell vacant after Adhikari, who won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, retained the latter. Rejinagar fell vacant after AJUP founder Humayun Kabir retained Nowda, where he had also won. PTI PNT ACD
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