Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir was detained on Tuesday after a heated argument with police personnel at his party office in West Bengal's Rejinagar, where voting was underway for the assembly bypoll.
Voting is underway for the high-stakes bypolls to five assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat spread across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam along with the Union Territory (UT)of Puducherry.
Kabir, who had been attacking the police since morning over the deployment of security personnel near his residence and at polling booths, was detained shortly after he cast his vote with his family.
The police reached the AUJP office in Rejinagar, following Kabir's repeated remarks against the force.
A heated argument broke out between the AJUP chief and police personnel, with the political leader accusing them of "dalali" (partisanship).
The situation escalated into a scuffle, following which police personnel pulled Kabir by his shirt and took him to a vehicle.
The states going to the bypolls are West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam along with the UT of Puducherry.
In West Bengal, bypolls are being held in the assembly constituencies of Nandigram and Rejinagar. Nandigram, vacated by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari after he chose to retain Bhabanipur where he had defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Adhikari, who led the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to its maiden government in West Bengal, contested and won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the April elections.
He defeated Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Banerjee in her Bhabanipur stronghold by 15,105 votes and subsequently chose to retain the Kolkata seat, resigning as the MLA from Nandigram. He had also defeated Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 assembly polls.
The other West Bengal seat headed for a bypoll is Rejinagar, which was vacated by Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief Humayun Kabir.
In Tamil Nadu, bypolls will be held in the Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) Assembly constituencies, which were won in the recent elections by Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama, respectively.
The two were among a group of rebel AIADMK legislators who backed Chief Minister Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government in a floor test. Kumaravel and Sathyabama later resigned as MLAs and joined the ruling TVK, necessitating the bypolls.
The UT of Puducherry is also going to the bypolls today. Puducherry's Thattanchavady seat was vacated by Chief Minister and All India N R Congress chief N Rangasamy, who had won from both Thattanchavady and Mangalam in the Assembly elections. Rangasamy opted to retain Mangalam and resigned from Thattanchavady.
Along with the five assembly seats across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, bypolls in Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency will also be held today.
Nagaon seat was vacated by Pradyut Bordoloi, who had won from the constituency on a Congress ticket in 2024. He joined the BJP and won from Dispur in the recent assembly polls.
The counting of votes will take place on October 9, according to the poll panel.
(With inputs from agencies)