Congress has demanded repolling in both districts of West Bengal where byelections were held on Tuesday alleging vote loot and biased action of the police
Published: October 6, 2026, 7:54 PM IST
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Byelections 2026: Polling concluded in the bypolls of Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies of West Bengal on TuesdayWhile Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district recorded a polling percentage of 79.39, Rejinagar in Murshidabad saw 78.42 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm.
Meanwhile, Congress demanded repolling in both districts, with the Nandigram candidate alleging that the byelections have been marked by vote-loot, voters’ intimidation and biased action of the police and security forces.
The Congress’s Rejinagar nominee Mohammad Abdullahil Kafi also staged a sit-in outside the local police station, demanding cancellation of the bypolls and fresh polling“Our Rejinagar candidate has begun a sit-in before the local PS protesting the forcible eviction of our agents from over a hundred booths in that constituencyLater we found that Congress agents were roughed up and forced to leave from almost all the booths in Rejinagar,” West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar alleged at a press conference in the party state unit’s headquarters ‘Bidhan Bhavan’ in Kolkata.
The party had intimated the EC on Monday night that a conspiracy to rig the polls has been hatched under the leadership of the inspector in charge of Rejinagar police station and from all levels of the administration,” he said.
“An atmosphere of intimidation has been created in such a manner that except the BJP workers, no one else can stay inside the polling booths,” Sarkar addedHe further alleged that all booths in Nandigram block II and several polling stations in block I “have been captured” by the ruling BJP.
“Our candidate ran around from pillar to post to stop the electoral malpractices from taking placeIf common voters had been able to come out and vote, then the polling percentage would have been higherBut then the BJP would have changed the EVMs,” Sarkar said.
What did Milan Pradhan say?
Meanwhile, Pradhan, who is currently out on interim bail granted by the Calcutta High Court after he was arrested in connection with criminal cases arising from the 2007 anti-land acquisition agitation in Nandigram, alleged that the police tried to restrict his movement in the constituency during the polls.
“A climate of hooliganism and utter lawlessness is prevailing in Nandigram for the past few daysMiscreants are moving around on motorcycles at night and threatening my agents and supporters not to come out and voteThey have snatched the identity cards of my poll agents,” he told PTI.
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Pradhan further alleged that the police are asking him to leave the area and the CRPF jawans have beaten him up with lathis in front of senior officers.
“The police have taken up the task of making people vote in favour of the ruling BJP,” he said, alleging that shops of minority voters are getting looted and the police are acting as mere onlookers.
The candidate said that he has lodged multiple complaints before the Election Commission but wasn’t hopeful of receiving justice from the poll watchdog.
