Voting to seven assembly constituencies spread across six states – Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh – ended peacefully on Thursday except for minor clashes outside some polling stations. The voter turnout ranged from 31.74 per cent in Andheri (East) of Maharashtra to 77.55 per cent in Telangana’s Munugode seat was recorded till 7:45 pm. The counting of votes will be held on November 6.
The polling percentages in the seven other seats were Mokama (52.47) and Gopalganj (48.35) of Bihar, Munugode (77.55) of Telangana, Adampur (75.25) of Haryana and Andheri (East) (31.74). Maharashtra, Gola Gokarannath (55.68) of Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar (66.63) of Odisha. These figures are likely to change.
#AssemblyByElections2022 , 48.35% voter turnout recorded in Gopalganj (Bihar), 52.47% in Mokama (Bihar), 75.25% in Adampur (Haryana), 31.74% in Andheri E (Maha), 66.63% in Dhamnagar (Odisha), 55.68% in Gola Gokrannath ( UP) & 77.55% in Munugode (Telangana),as per EC’s approx trend pic.twitter.com/zbrxfqlvoX
— ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2022
The by-elections were by and large peaceful barring some minor incidents.
Among the seven seats where votings were held, the BJP held three seats and the Congress two, while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each. The contest is symbolic of the fierce turf war between the BJP and the regional parties.
Here’s all about the six states where bypolls on seven seats were conducted:
1. Uttar Pradesh: The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party alleged that some polling centres were captured by workers of the ruling BJP. However, District Magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh ruled out the claims and said he personally visited the polling centres but found no such thing. The BJP is seeking to retain the Gola Gokarannath seat in Uttar Pradesh and banking on sympathy votes as it has fielded the son of sitting MLA whose death necessitated the bypolls.
2. Odisha: There were reports of clashes between BJD and BJP in two polling booths in Odisha’s Rameswarpur when voting was conducted, resulting in injuries to two persons. The BJP is seeking to retain Dhamnagar in the BJD-ruled state.
3. Maharashtra: Shiv Sena’s Rutuja Latke is most likely to bag comfortable win in Mumbai’s Andheri East assembly seat after the BJP withdrew from the contest. The NCP and Congress have supported her candidature. The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Latke’s husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May.
4. Telangana: The BJP and the ruling TRS had been campaigning aggressively in Munugode in Telangana, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on the saffron party’s ticket. The Election Commission of India (ECI) made elaborate arrangements for polling, including the deployment of 3,366 state police and 15 companies of central security personnel in Munugode.
5. Haryana: In Adampur, the bypoll was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi’s son Bhavya is now contesting as the BJP candidate. The Adampur seat has been held by the Bhajan Lal family since 1968, with the late ex-chief minister representing it on nine occasions, his wife Jasma Devi once, and Kuldeep on four occasions.
6. Bihar: The state saw the first electoral test for the Nitish Kumar-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government, formed less than three months ago after the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP. The Mokama and Gopalganj seats in Bihar were earlier held by the RJD and the BJP respectively. The BJP contested from the Mokama constituency for the first time as the saffron party had, on previous occasions, left the seat to its allies. Both the BJP and the RJD have fielded the wives of local musclemen in the bypolls.
The Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are among the key parties contesting the bypolls.
(with inputs from PTI)
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