By-poll : Voting picks up in Uluberia, Noapara, peaceful

Voting picked up by noon in Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency and Noapara assembly seat in West Bengal with the seats registering 48 per cent and 55 per cent polling respectively in the by-election that is underway.
"Till 1 pm 48 per cent and 55 per cent voting has been recorded in both the constituencies. The voting process is completely peaceful," a senior election official said.
The elections were necessitated following the deaths of Sultan Ahmed, the TMC MP from Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency, and Madhusudan Ghose, the Congress MLA from Noapara assembly seat.
The TMC, which had been in power in the Uluberia seat since 2009, has fielded Sultan Ahmed's wife Sajda this time. The CPI(M)-led Left Front has put up Sabiruddin Molla and Congress S K Madassar Hossain Warsi.

The BJP has fielded its district committee leader Anupam Mallik from the seat. Five independents are also in the fray for the Lok Sabha seat.
In Noapara, the TMC has fielded Sunil Singh, while the CPI(M) has put up Gargi Chatterjee. Goutam Bose is the Congress contestant and Sandip Banerjee of BJP.
The Uluberia Lok Sabha seat has 15,77,396 voters and the Noapara assembly seat has 2,46,522 voters.
The results will be announced on February 1, the EC said.