Nadia (West Bengal) [India], June 19 : Trinamool Congress' candidate Alifa Ahmed, for West Bengal's Kaliganj assembly constituency, cast her vote on Thursday for the ongoing bypolls and urged the people to come out in large numbers and "vote for the right party."
"It is an important day for me. Voting is the biggest right in the Constitution, and I feel proud to use that right. I request all the voters in the constituency to come out in large numbers to vote for the right party," Ahmed told ANI.
Voting is currently underway in five of the Assembly constituencies across the country. Apart from Kaliganj- Gujarat's Visavadar and Kadi, Kerala's Nilambur, and Punjab's Ludhiana West.
In Kaliganj, BJP's Ashish Ghosh and Congress' Kabil Uddin Shaikh are also contesting in the by-election.
As of Election Commission data till 11 AM, Voter turnout in the Assembly by-elections saw varied participation, with Kaliganj recording 30.34%, the highest out of 5 constituencies.
Nilambur had 30.15%, Visavadar 28.15%, Kadi 23.85%, and Ludhiana West at 21.51%, as per the Election Commission of India.
The polling began at 7 am for the assembly constituency seat. A mock poll was held just before the polling booth opened, with the visuals showing election officials casting a vote and conducting a mock-polling drill before the actual polling begins.
The results of all the constituencies will be declared on June 23.
On Punjab's Ludhiana seat, the BJP has fielded Jiwan Gupta as its candidate. The Aam Aadmi Party has chosen Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora from the seat, which fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi due to a self-inflicted bullet injury last year.
On Gujarat's Visavadar constituency, the BJP has fielded Kirit Patel, Congress has nominated Nitin Ranpariya, while AAP has placed its former Gujarat president, Gopal Italia.
On Kadi seat, the BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda. Congress has fielded Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA who won the seat in 2012, while AAP has chosen Jagdish Chavda.