Polling began for by-elections in four assembly seats in West Bengal on Wednesday, amid heavy deployment of security forces, an official said.

Voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.

Three of the four constituencies - Maniktala in Calcutta, Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagdah in North 24 Parganas - are in the southern part of the state.

The fourth, Raiganj, is in north Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district.

There are around 10 lakh voters across the four assembly segments.

The Election Commission has deployed around 70 companies of security forces to secure 1,097 polling booths spread across the four assembly seats.

The counting will take place on July 13.

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