Kolkata, June 19 (UNI) Amid inclement weather and monsoon rains, voting began peacefully in West Bengal's Kaliganj assembly seat in Nadia district with the Central armed forces guarding all the 309 polling stations spread across the 13 panchayat areas, official sources said on Thursday.
Though the number of voters was scanty in the early hours as polling began at 7 am in the assembly byelection of the day, where over 2.5 lakh electors are expected to exercise their right up to the scheduled 5 pm.
The byelection is restricted to a triangular fight among the ruling Trinamool Congress, the main opposition BJP and the Congress-Left combination in this border district.
TMC's candidate Alifa Ahmed, BJP's Ashis Ghosh and Congress' candidate Kabil Uddin Sheikh are seeking their electoral fate in a seat which Alifa's father represented for a decade.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of sitting TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed earlier this year. TMC's 28-year-old greenhorn contestant Alifa already cast her vote early and said her party would ensure the maximum turnout among the total of 252,670 voters. Of the voters, 130,363 are males and 122,303 are females.
Among the security forces are 14 companies of Central armed forces and 700 state police personnel. There are 20 Quick Response Teams and Rapid Action Forces' six teams to ensure peaceful polling.
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