TMC supporters celebrate outside counting centre as Alifa leads in Kaliaganj by-poll

Counting for the Kaliaganj Assembly by-election began at 8 AM on Monday at Panighata High School amid heavy security. The process started with postal ballots, in which Trinamool Congress candidate Alifa Ahmed took an early lead over BJP's Ashis Ghosh and the Left-Congress alliance candidate. After 12 out of 23 rounds, TMC secured 56,404 votes, BJP received 25,437, and the Left-Congress alliance got 18,770 votes. The Election Commission stated that the final result is expected by 12:30 PM.

With TMC maintaining the lead, celebrations broke out among party supporters outside the counting centre. Supporters were seen dancing to drums, throwing coloured powder (abir), and raising slogans such as “Joy Bangla.” Security forces remained deployed around the premises to manage the crowd and maintain order during the vote count.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed. His daughter Alifa Ahmed contested the seat on a Trinamool Congress ticket. According to official data, Kaliaganj constituency has 2,52,670 voters, including 1,30,363 males, 1,22,303 females, and 4 third-gender voters. After a special summary revision, 5,840 names were removed from the electoral roll, marking a 0.87% decrease. Fourteen central force companies, about 2,000 state police personnel, 20 Quick Response Teams, and 8 RAF units were deployed for election duty. Live webcasting was arranged inside and outside polling booths, and surveillance cameras were installed on security vehicles.