A total of 2,69,412 voters will exercise their franchise in Dhupguri bypoll in Jalpaiguri district tomorrow amid tight security.
A total of 30 company Central forces have been deployed in all 260 polling stations under Dhupguri Assembly segment. Of them 72 polling stations have been identified as sensitive.
Nearly 1200 polling personnel have been engaged in conducting the by election .
The Election Commission of India is conducting the by poll after the death of an MLA Bishnu Pada Roy, who was elected on the BJP ticket in 2021.
According to political observers, the bypoll is a prestigious fight for the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to the held in 2024.
Four candidates are con- testing in Dhupguri bypoll. KPP has fielded Ranjit Roy.
Though the CPI-M has fielded Iswar Chandra Roy with the support of the Congress, political observers said Dhupguri people will witness neck and neck fight between TMC candidate Dr Nirmal Chandra Roy and BJP candidate Tapasi Roy.
Though the Trinamul Congress leadership is trying hard to beat the BJP candidate keeping an eye on Parliament elections, the party has experienced a setback after the former MLA Mitali Roy, who was elected on the TMC ticket, joined hands with BJP yesterday.
Mitali Roy was an Kamtapur Liberation Organisation ( KLO) activist. Ms Roy had joined the TMC in 2012 and she was elected as an MLA from Dhupguri in 2016.
According to the sources, she keeps control over six forest villages and plays a key role in each election. In recently ended three tire Panchayat polls, the TMC secured almost all seats in forest village area.
According to political observers, the TMC is banking on the tea garden work- ers as the state labour department has recently increased their wages from Rs 232 to 250 a day.
At a time when the BJP is banking on Rajbanshi and Matua community, the TMC leadership here is confident after the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, during election campaigning, has promised that Dhupguri would be a new sub division in Jalpaiguri district following voters’ demand.