Kolkata: The by-election to the prestigious
Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha constituency, vacated by West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, recorded a voting percentage
of 51.55, a sharp drop of 15.27 per cent from the figure in
2009.
Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Kumar Gupta told reporters
here, "51.55 percent voting was recorded in the by-election in
the constituency. During the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, the
percentage of voting was 66.82."
He said that during the assembly poll in May, the seven
assembly segments of the seat had together registered 71.6 per
cent voting.
Asked about the lower percentage, Gupta attributed it to
a bypoll in an urban constituency. "But despite that the
Election Commission is trying to improve the situation by
social networking of young and new voters along with various
other steps."
The polling was peaceful, he said, adding 23 EVMs had to
be replaced in booths due to malfunctioning.
The chief minister, her predecessor, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee
cast their votes.
The main contest is between Trinamool Congress's state
president Subrata Bakshi and Ritabrata Banerjee of CPI-M.
Three independents are also in the fray.
BJP and Trinamool's ally Congress did not put up
candidates.
The seat fell vacant after Banerjee resigned as MP and
successfully fought the assembly by-election from Bhowanipore
for her maiden entry into the state legislature.
The constituency is locally known as the chief minister's
pocket borough as Banerjee has won six times in a row since
1991.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 09:31