Peacefully 53 per cent turnout in West Bengal's Bhawanipur constituency

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in the fray for this seat in the by-elections: 68 per cent turnout in Odisha elections

Kolkata: The by-polls in West Bengal's most high-profile Bhawanipur assembly constituency were held peacefully today with a turnout of 53.32 per cent.

The election became high profile as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leaned from the seat. In Orissa's Pipli assembly constituency, 68.40 per cent voters exercised their franchise by 5 pm.

The West Bengal Assembly seat in Bhawanipur also witnessed 53.32 per cent turnout by 5 pm, the Election Commission said. Apart from that, by-elections were also held for Shamsherganj assembly seat and Jangipur assembly seat in Murshidabad district of the state where 78.60 per cent and 76.12 per cent polling was recorded respectively. A total of 6,97,164 voters exercised their franchise in these three assembly seats.

BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal had contested against Mamata Banerjee, while the CPI (M) 's Shreejib Vishwas had registered her candidature from the Pambhavanipur constituency.

Although some polling stations reported clashes between Trinamool Congress and BJP cadres during the polls, security forces took control of the situation immediately. The bypolls held at the Pipli assembly constituency in Orissa's Puri district also saw a peaceful turnout of 68.40 per cent and no untoward incidents were reported.