Polling began at 7 am on Tuesday for the by-election to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat and Ballygunge assembly segment in West Bengal amid tight security arrangements, an election official said.
Altogether 680 of the total 2,012 booths in Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district, and all the 300 booths in Ballygunge in south Kolkata have been identified as "sensitive", he said. Around 15 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in Asansol. There are around 2.5 lakh voters in Ballygunge.
A total of 133 companies of central forces have been deployed in the two constituencies– 70 in Ballygunge and the remaining in Asansol.
